With Reason
by Tsarashi
Summary: [Sequel to Just Instincts] After realizing her true destiny, Kagome is determined to find all of her answers in the past. After regaining her confidence once more, she seeks to change the course of time and set right a mistake she has yet to make. All the while she is mesmerized by the contents of a certain file. Enamored by the profile of a certain Kitsune, now 500 years away.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 **Edo Period, Kaede's Hut**

"Mugwart can be used as a sedative, and it can also be used to clear the belly of worms." Rin listed the effects of the dried sprig presented before her, her honey bronze eyes sharply focused as she tried to remember what she had learned. "It tastes awfully bitter."

The little demoness' nose scrunched, it must have smelt bitter as well.

"Aye, and be there any ill effects with over-treatment?"

"Erm..." The nine year old thought a moment before she looked stumped, her fingers twisted a nervous loop in her overgrown silver hair. Miroku nodded subtly to get the girl's attention before pointing to his eyes.

"Oh!" Rin brightened. She gave him a relieved, thankful smile before composing herself once more to the polite young lady that she was training to become. "Yes, too much can cause tinted vision or blindness."

Kaede turned to glare over her shoulder at the unholy monk sitting behind her, catching his proud grin.

"Ye need not coddle the child, Miroku."

The old priestess packed the dried herb away in it's thin rice paper sheath and placed it in the dry storage under the false floorboard. She'd decided to quiz Rin while rotating her winter stock. Kaede's aged, weathered hands reached for the next sachet with care.

"The more knowledge thee young demon acquire as an herbalist, the less likely thy villagers wish her harm. Especially so, if Lord Sesshoumaru continues to leave her in mine care during such unrest."

The Youkai Lord stopped in from time to time to check on the little girl's well being and to present her with gifts such as the heavy, deep purple kimono coat that she was wearing then to keep away the chill that she barely felt. Miroku figured that Sesshoumaru was still trying to comprehend just what the Jewel's wish had done to his ward. For the first few weeks he had been immensely protective, but more and more the Dog was shying away from the child.

They all feared that she would ultimately be rejected by her Lord, if he came to decide that the responsibility of a daughter was too great compared to that of a simple—temporary—human ward.

Not that Miroku minded the prospect of becoming the newly changed demoness' caregiver, if Sesshoumaru were to abandon her. But it was bound to be more difficult for them to sustain such a large household in the coming months.

He'd taken up farming that past summer when demon hunting proved to be a fool's errand, with barely enough yield to last them through the winter. In the coming spring he was going to look into opening an apothecary.

"Next, girl, what is this?" The elder asked Rin.

Rin stared at the curled brown clump. "It's... tree bark—? Wait!" Something clicked in her memory. "Mulberry. It is White Mulberry bark." She glanced back at Miroku for confirmation, before realizing that Kaede wasn't going to let that slide again. "If you make it into a tea it can help fight a cough, fevers and headaches. You use it a lot when the seasons change, Miroku."

"An unfortunate truth." He admitted airily. "Hay fever can destroy the will of even the strongest warrior."

Her small laugh was polite, restrained.

Oh, how he missed the hearty laughter that once filled their huts and campsites. The newly uncursed war veteran was determined to bring it back with time. His children would be encouraged to express themselves unreserved, much like Inuyasha and Kagome both had.

Kaede pulled out one last paper pouch and revealed the delicately preserved plant stalk inside. "Do ye know this one? It may have been left from yer previous lessons, as I'd so few to spare."

The dry herb had slender, toothy leaves that Rin eyed carefully.

"I'm sorry, I do not recognize that one."

Miroku recognized it with a pang of nerves.

"'Tis a plant to prevent a new mother from bleeding out with childbirth. Such a risk it is, to bare a child. Aye, with the skill of a midwife and the correct herbs it need not be as frightening as it once was." The elder handed Rin the clipping for her to memorize. "Come early summer, we shall replenish stock. Many a child will be borne this coming year."

The death of Naraku coupled with the expulsion of demon kind from the Human Realm had caused quite an uproar and as a result there had been extensive celebrations that year. Festivals were still popping up, even nearly two seasons later. Many men had left their homes to join the rallying armies determined to rid the land of any lingering beasts and divvy up the now unspoken territories, leaving their wives satisfied and child-heavy.

Of course, Miroku was in no position to lay judgment.

"Yer dear Sango will be needing it as well, nearer that time."

Miroku's thoughts traveled to his wife. He'd given up the Cloth for her, he loved her more than anything else in that world and he was willing to bend backwards over rivers to keep her happy. Yet she insisted on driving him to madness with worry. Even then she was out collecting water, which he, in no way, thought that she should be doing such work in her condition. She'd lectured him when he had told her as much, but was it really so wrong of him to want her to be comfortable, safe and provided for? The last thing she needed was to overexert herself.

Unfortunately the cursed woman was stubborn.

A stubborn, infuriating thing that was more amazing than the sun itself.

Sango was his heart.

From the moment she told him the news, Miroku had vowed to be a better father than his own had been. And he hoped to be half as good a parent as Monk Mushin had proven to be, when he was sober.

The sight of Rin stiffening, hackles raised, pulled the ex-monk from his musings.

"What is that?" She asked. Unfamiliar sensations overwhelmed the girl since she had no ability to sense any of the supernatural before her transition. Her tiny face was pinched and panicked, the smooth purple markings on either side of her cheeks frayed ever-so-slightly with the fluttering of her aura.

It took a fraction longer for his human senses to feel it. When the warm and inviting energy buffed his own aura, Miroku jumped to his feet. At the same moment a clattering sounded outside the hut, followed by the splashing of water to the ground.

Sango ripped open the sliding door, glowing from both her baby bump and startled excitement.

"Miroku! It's the well!"


	2. Back to the Start

**Chapter Two: Back to the Start**

 **Edo Period, Kaede's Hut**

The reunion went almost exactly as Kagome had pictured it.

Miroku had helped her climb out of the well with Shippo and into a twirling, breath stealing hug. Sango had started crying and, when the priestess saw the slayer's hard cupped against her slightly bulging stomach, she shed tears as well.

She'd filled them in on the events of the future on their way back to Kaede's home, their central gathering base, where they spent the better half of the morning sharing tales. Shippo went into great detail when he told Miroku about the bird-butterflies in the demon realm and the deer that stood taller than the trees with giant _green_ antlers. The women gushed over the new addition that would be joining their family come early summer. They laughed over the good times, rich and free. They cried over their hardships and fears, both past and future.

But most importantly, they accepted Kagome and Shippo back into their lives without a moments hesitation.

Permanent fixtures from then on.

When the excitement started to settle to a steady simmer and Kaede had refilled Kagome's tea cup for the fourth time, the demoness looked over to see Rin sitting awkward and rigid just outside of their circle around the fire pit.

Shippo had greeted her, but other than that the little Fox didn't know how else to interact with the girl, so quiet and tense compared to the energetic little human he'd played with in the fields for years. So he clung to Miroku's shoulder, waiting with bated breath for a smile or a glimpse of eye contact to tell him that it was alright to talk to her.

The young priestess moved herself to kneel before the Dog child.

"Let me get a good look at you!" She said, taking the startled Rin's face in her hands.

Kagome looked her over as if she were a precious piece of porcelain, her fingers caressed the soft purple lines that kissed the little girl's cheeks. Her eyes were not as bright as the gold of Sesshoumaru's or the amber of Inuyasha's, but they shimmered like polished tiger's eye. The teen smoothed the child's long, silver hair and tucked it behind small, pointed ears.

Kagome finally let her glamour fall, feeling foolish for still having it on. That was the past. They were her family. She wasn't going to be judged for what she didn't know; they were in it together.

"It's a lot to get used to, isn't it?"

Rin bit her lower lip before nodding, tearing her gaze from Kagome's flattened ears to the floor.

It was hard enough going through the demonic transformation as a spiritually trained young adult. The older Kitsune couldn't even begin to imagine how confusing and painful it must have been for Rin, a child, to go through the same thing that she had. Yet there she was.

Struggling to learn herself in a world pitted against her.

Abruptly, Kagome pulled the small Inu to her chest. It took several stiff moments before Rin returned the hug, reaching around the older girl as far as she could and allowing her locked emotions to bubble to the surface like a tidal wave. The scent of her sorrow and fear was bitter, but it was quickly overpowered by the sweet warmth of gratitude.

The demoness looked over her should to Miroku and Sango, who were watching the two with odd expressions resembling pity. That was when she realized that something was missing.

"Hey..." She started. "Where is Sesshoumaru, anyway?"

Silence fell over the room, the child in her arms fell tense once more.

The Taijia huffed up, ready to curse the demon Lord's name into the lowest reaches of hell. Miroku grabbed her thigh and spoke first to keep his wife from going off into a tirade. "Lord Sesshoumaru... visits on occasion. He is extremely busy these days."

Kagome deflated. "Oh..."

It was clear that Sango didn't want the subject to drop so easily, but she reluctantly let it go after a wordless conversation with the man beside her. The Dog demon seemed to be a sore subject between the lovers.

"Well, good riddance." The Shikon Priestess said with far less conviction than she had intended. Rin curled closer and Kagome placed her chin on the girl's head protectively. "We can do this _without_ him!"

════════════════ With Reason ════════════════

Miroku took a deep breath and listened to the echoing hollowness of the forest, the gurgling of the small brook beside them. He imagined that Kagome could hear much more; the winter birds as the cleared the frost from their feathers, the moaning of tree limbs that were heavy with ice, the whispers of snowflakes as they settled on the deepening snow. He imagined that she could hear the rush of blood pulsing though his veins with those tall, vulpine ears that never stayed still for long.

Without even opening his eyes he knew that they were twitching again—either to focus on a new sound or to shake away the collecting snow. They made slightest rustling noise against her hair.

The once monk let out the held air from his lungs, the condensation from his breath froze into a puff of white.

"You are not relaxed."

Her voice held the tone of her frown. "It's hard to focus on relaxing when there's so much going on. The whole forest is moving."

Miroku chuckled.

For the past few days he had been tasked with helping Kagome access her demonic powers as a separate entity from her Miko light. So far their progress was nearly nonexistent. Without personal experience wielding or training demonic energy, the battle monk had little to go on, so he used the familiar methods for training spiritual energy under the assumption that the two powers were similar enough. Although her purity was as strong and agile as ever, she was still a long ways from unlocking the secrets to the other power locked beneath her skin.

The two had started off their daily training sessions by the well—Kagome wasn't willing to go much farther into Inuyasha's forest just yet—but the calming energies in the wood and the protective tree just beyond seemed to put her too much at ease. They acted like buffers, keeping the outside world out. It was great for meditating and mastering her purity, but it only seemed to drive her demonic powers further within herself.

So the human's new tactic was to take her outside of her comfort zone.

Teaching Kagome how to use her Glamour was one thing; the technique was fairly straightforward and they had Shippo to explain and demonstrate. But this power was something else all together. Shippo's broken description of his foxfire only managed to confuse the young woman, since the little boy didn't know how to explain something that he'd almost always felt. It was a natural power, unique to the individual breed.

"Don't let that distract you, keep your attention _inside_ yourself. Focus on your breathing, be conscious of every movement you make. Catalog your power, even if you cannot yet access it. Good." He nodded. "Now tell me, was there a common factor each time your demon energy came to the surface?"

There was a rustling sound as Kagome shifted.

Miroku peeked open one eye when she remained quiet. Her face was pinched in concentration and she looked frustrated, ready to give up for the day. He reached towards her. Just before his hand made contact with her own, Kagome's eyes shot open.

"Something touched me." She said. "Each time I was scared and something touched me."

Finally! Something to work with!

It wasn't exactly the standard strategy of training, but perhaps they needed to force the powers out of her a few times before she was able to access them on her own.

"Alright, let's try this." Miroku looked down at his hand, at the palm that held the cursed wind tunnel for so many years of his life. The smooth skin still had him in awe. "I want to touch you, Kagome."

The demoness made an unladylike snort.

"Miroku!" She scolded him in a mocking tone. "You're awful! How could you even think of that right now!?"

He made a show of looking deeply wounded by her accusation. "While you are a _very_ attractive woman, my dear Kagome—might I add that your new look is _quite_ becoming, long hair truly suits you—I do have the fortune of being happily married. And, if you must know, my night life is _extremely_ satisfying." He winked and reveled in the pink tinge that his words brought to her cheeks. "I merely wish to touch you with my aura in hand, a minor threat, to see what that may bring about."

Hesitation wasn't something that Kagome had been known for over their adventures those past few years, but in the past week it had been her dominant state. Occasionally she would make a brash decision in failed attempts to grasp at her old confidence, but it wasn't quite the same. She was quiet for several long moments, looking anywhere but his eyes. Her small but sharp fangs worried at her bottom lip.

When she sighed, the Kitsune glanced down at her own small hands.

"I... don't want to hurt you." She admitted.

"So you have been holding back?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Not intentionally. I just..." When she met his gaze then, Miroku felt kicked by the pain that shone in her eyes. "I know what it's capable of."

"Kagome..."

They sat like that for a long while. The two battle shaken warriors were so still that a pair of large cranes settled near them to hunt for their dinner in the shallows of the brook that wasn't yet covered by glass-thin ice. He hoped that they could fix her broken pieces back together with time, but that day he was going to rely on her brash, defensive nature.

When Miroku spoke up, his voice was soft and the words were innocent enough. "I understand if you're not ready. You have hundreds of years to learn, you shouldn't push yourself so hard."

Kagome bristled and her eyes took on a defiant quality, the spark of his old companion glistened within the glowing blues.

"No, I never said that." Kagome offered her arm, too stiff for him to believe that her words were anything more than a show. "I just hope you know what you're doing and you're ready for the backlash." The demoness bit out.

In hindsight, he shouldn't have pushed her. He most certainly shouldn't have taken her up on her offer without thinking it through and planning further ahead. Not when neither of them were completely prepared to face her power.

"I'll be gentle."

The spiritualist grasped her forearm, remaining firm when she wrapped her fingers around his in return. Her arm was so thin, so fragile compared to the lean muscle that hugged every curve of Sango's skin, but he knew better than to underestimate her strength now that she was a Youkai. Miroku let his aura flare, sparkling white without Naraku's taint, before sending a jolt of his spiritual power into the supple flesh of his friend. Just enough to compel a response.

He allowed his demeanor to shift from teacher to threat and hoped that Kagome's instincts would take the bait.

The priestess gasped as his power shocked her body. His energy did little to humans, stunned them at most, but to a demon it was an electrifying shock and she had yet to be on the receiving end.

Power surged quickly after that, the Kitsune's eyes flashed an eerie purple-white sheen for just a second. The two cranes fled to the safety of the air in a fit of fretful wings and awkward legs.

Miroku cried out in shock. Their power collided and he threw up a barrier just in time before the ripple of light hit him full force. It knocked him off the boulder that they had been sitting on and into the frozen stream bed. His back broke through the ice. Frigid water soaked his clothing, it froze his hair in clumps almost instantly. He let out a hoarse groan as the barrier dropped. The pain was immense.

The water felt wonderful.

Kagome was by his side in a heartbeat, panting and shaking.

"Miroku!" She screamed. Or at least he thought she'd screamed. His ears were ringing and everything around him sounded far too loud. Bright, blurring images slowly came into focus and he found himself lying flat and wet in the snow beside the brook's bank. An equally drenched Kitsune hovered over him with fear and concern in her eyes.

A bruised purple burn down the length of her forearm caught caught his eye. "Kagome... your arm."

" _My_ arm!?" Her voice shrieked to a new octave. "Miroku! _Your_ arm is—! It's okay! I can heal this!"

With a gulp, Mroku glanced down at his own arm. Flesh was burnt away in spots as if he had gotten too close to the sun, singed skin spread up to his shoulder. Muscle was visible that had no business being exposed. There was a red streak of blood, a sharp contrast against the white snow, from where she had dragged him. Green blades of grass poked through there, as if hungry for his blood.

It was hard not to panic when he couldn't feel his fingers.

The warrior turned farmer took deep, hyperventilating breaths even as the warmth of the priestess' healing magic enveloped him.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She repeated over and over again.

Miroku forced out a laugh and the bravest face he could muster. She would fix him up, no doubt, he just needed to stay calm and make light of the situation to keep her from panicking further.

"Perhaps..." He began as the pain began to ebb away and the shivers of cold started to take hold. "We _may_ enlist Lord Sesshoumaru for assistance?"

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

The young demoness had her good days and her bad days.

Then there were her worst days.

The floor of Miroku and Sango's hut was cold against her bare arms and legs as Kagome sprawled out on her stomach in her summer Pjs, despite there being half a meter of snow outside. Her hair was a tangled mess around her. The newlyweds had built the small home over the summer while the priestess and her little ward were off fooling around in the modern era. It was a modest building, which Sango didn't mind. But Miroku kept going on about the grand expansion in his visions. Since they were closer to the forest than the village, there was plenty of space for growth and the monk always did enjoy the lavish things in life.

A room for each child, he had declared. Not such a strange concept to Kagome since that was what she'd grown up with, but in the Feudal era it was bordering excessive. A grand villa for the large and extended family that he knew they'd have in the near future.

The future...

The thick manila envelope of a file lay innocently in front of the demoness. It begged to be opened. After so many weeks, the sparkling water scent of Koenma and the Spirit Realm was nearly gone. She gazed down at it, reading the neat print of her name on the side tab for the tenth time.

It was her own handwriting.

She wasn't ready to come face to face with her future self, or whatever else could have been inside that would determine her fate. Was it destiny if she was shaping her own future?

Were any of the choices that she would make even her own?

Kagome sighed and blew her breath pitifully at the folder, wishing to make it fly away.

A knock from outside pulled her attention away.

Miroku slid open the wooden storm door and stepped into the dry dirt entryway, taking care not to spill the steaming bowl in his hand as he brushed away the snow from his thick blue robes. The lot of them had gathered at Kaede's for dinner, but the spicy aroma of the stew told the Kitsune that Sango was the one cooking.

"I've brought you dinner, if you're hungry."

When he reached over to hand it to her the hem of his sleeve pulled back, revealing some of the pale scars that surrounded his right arm. Guilt flooded her. Kagome shied away and looked away to the opposite wall.

The wounds that he had received from her power were deep, but she'd healed deep wounds before. Her panic made her sloppy. Her purity had been hard to control, so soon after the demonic power had come to the surface. He claimed that the marks caused him no pain, however Kagome saw the new stiffness as he worked chores and practiced Katas with his staff.

There was permanent damage thanks to her inability to control her powers.

Yet he still came to her every day for their training session. Miroku had not held onto the same anger and regret that she did.

She hated herself.

When Kagome didn't respond or move to take the bowl, Miroku set it gently on the floorboard beside her.

"Please eat something tonight." He said with his softest voice that he usually reserved for injured or frightened children. "You've been given the opportunity to see more years than any mortal should, Kagome. Please don't waste it holding on to your past mistakes. We're all waiting for when you're ready to join us."

With that he left her alone once more.

The fox demoness pulled her arms close and stifled a sob, rolling onto her side. She stared at the entryway, at the summer sandals that Sango kept procrastinating to put into storage.

Why had she thought that she could fix anything by returning to the past? All she seemed to be capable of was making things worse and harming those she loved. Kagome couldn't learn her powers if they were a danger to her friends in the process.

If she was _supposed_ to be there, why did it feel like she'd made the wrong decision?

In a swell of anger, the priestess pulled herself to her knees and ripped the folder off the floor. She held it hard in her clawed grasp, desperate to find meaning in all of it, but terrified all the same.

In the end she couldn't bring herself to open it.

Kagome flung the folder at the wall and cried out when it didn't rip open in a meteor shower of papers.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

Kagome didn't understand.

Sesshoumaru was supposed to be this perfect father figure. She'd looked up to him in the future, as much as she hated to admit it. She was _jealous_ of him because he acted like such a noble, perfect parent, willing to do whatever he could for his child.

And yet the younger Sesshoumaru couldn't even look Rin in the eye when he came to visit.

He arrived on a cloud of Youki, earning the shrieks and yells of the villagers that hoped they'd seen the last of the mighty Dog. He offered a small bundle to Miroku. It contained a deep maroon kimono decorated with white flowers that didn't quite feel like normal silk, a striped blue yukata that had small embroidered frogs, and a shimmering gold hair pin that Rin would put in a box alongside the other beautiful trinkets that she didn't feel comfortable wearing in public.

Without so much as a word—Miroku had filled the silence by telling the demon Lord all that Rin had accomplished and done in his absence—he turned to leave.

"Thank you very much, Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin bowed to his retreating back.

Her hands were trembling.

Kagome jogged forward. "Wait a second!" She called out to make him look back at her. When his cold golden eyes fell on her, the Kitsune felt very insignificant. "Um..."

Why did he get to run away from his responsibility when she had taken such a leap of faith?

The bastard was a coward.

And so was she. Otherwise she would have told him as much without a second thought. Instead, she hesitated. He was finally _right there_. The demon that would eventually tell her to go back to the past, to take her time learning herself.

She wanted to yell at him.

But she bowed her head meekly and choked out her request.

"Please train me!"

He sized her up in a single sweep, eyebrow raised delicately. A predator eyeing it's prey to see if it was worth the time and energy to hunt for dinner.

His reply was short and cold, his lip upturned in disgust.

"No."

The western Lord left no room for discussion as he swiftly disappeared into the dense forest. Leaving in his wake a speechless Kagome—her heart pounding—and a disappointed Rin.

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

Rin exited the small hut like a clam diver breaking the ocean's surface for air.

Sango had gone off on a paranoid tirade after Shippo pointed out that the baby's heartbeat didn't sound right. The panic was only inflamed when Kagome had innocently agreed. The priestess had tried to calm the slayer, but was unable to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with the sound of the pulse and her descriptions were getting them nowhere. Sango had the ability to be more frightening than any demon.

Hormones.

That was what Kagome had said was causing Sango's silver tongue and rapid-fire changes in emotion.

Rin didn't think she liked hormones very much.

They were _strong._

"What up! Where are you going?" Shippo rushed out after her.

The little demoness gave him a withering look. It was Shippo's fault that Sango was so upset in the first place.

He hadn't changed a bit since she'd met him those years ago. He was still as spirited and tiny as he'd always been back then. Yet, while she'd grown up in both height and knowledge, he'd remained a time capsule. With their growing age gap it seemed that they were bound to grow apart.

But now that she was Lord Sesshoumaru's...

Now that she was a demon just like her Lord, she and the kit were going to be able to grow up together at a snail's pace. However, that didn't take away the years that she'd already gained on him in maturity.

Nose wrinkled, the pup looked away from the fox child. She held her shoulders straight and tall. " _I'm_ going to find Lady Kaede. She'll see if anything is really wrong with the baby. You can't just tell a pregnant mother that their baby's heart sounds all jumbled—that scares people! You have no bedside manner!"

Shippo fell quietly in step behind her.

Rin dared a glance over her shoulder at his downtrodden, sulky form.

She was angry with him, she decided, there was no going back.

The kid acted on impulse and did whatever he wanted without repercussion. He was such a _child,_ all the while she was busy training her aura, studying and mastering finer arts like herbalism, embroidery and flower arranging. It wasn't an explicit order from Lord Sesshoumaru that she be taught such things, but it was implied.

Why else would he leave her for months on end without so much as a visit?

She needed to better herself, to prove her self worth to him.

It wasn't fair that Shippo had it so easy!

Rin rounded on the little boy.

"Oof!" Shippo's chin rammed into her knee and he fell back on his tail. The greens of his eyes were shone more vibrant than the leaves that would be soon growing once more on the trees. "I'm sorry, Rin. Did I do something wrong?"

The Inu pursed her lips before she crossed her arms and looked down her nose at him in her very best Youkai Lord impersonation.

"I'm the big sister now, so I've got to do the best I can to help out and not be any trouble. You should too. You won't be the littlest much longer."

He nodded up at her mutely.

Being mad at him was easy. _Staying_ mad at him was much harder.

"How old _are_ you, Shippo?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"Um... I don't know, about fifty-three?"

Fine trails of a blush painted her cheeks as she stepped back in shock, failing to hold her composure. "You're almost as old as Lady Kaede!" She sobered before reluctantly admitting "I'm only nine."

Was she even allowed to lecture a fifty-three year old?

"You're still the big sister." Shippo spoke up softly.

Rin lowered her head. "You think?"

"Yeah, you're way bigger than me and you know a ton of cool stuff." The kit scratched his paws on the winter deadened grass. "I wish they'd teach me more things, but everyone thinks I'm too little."

A smile quirked at the corner of Rin's lips. It seemed that she wasn't the only one feeling a bit bitter. It helped a lot knowing that.

"I could try to teach you things... if you want."

"Really?" He took her outstretched hand and got back on his feet. "That'd be awesome!"

Rin brightened.

She changed her decision. It might just be easier to work together than to be angry with him.

They found Kaede sitting on the bank of the stream that wound it's way through the village close to her home. She'd enlisted some of the local children to help wash her rice in the spring runoff. Although the ice was gone, the water was still too cold for her old bones to tolerate.

It didn't take much convincing to get her to walk back with them to the hut at the forest's edge to help calm the commotion. It was a good thing that Miroku was out delivering a cold remedy in one of the further districts; it would make the task far easier without his overblown panic added to the mess.

Kagome was sitting on the ground outside the house looking forlorn and dejected.

Kicked out, no doubt. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last. They'd all been pushed out the door by Sango at least once over the winter. Miroku perhaps a dozen times.

The door flung open quickly when the elder knocked. Sango's worry and anger hung low, seeping out the open doorway like a miasma. Relief lessened some of the tension in her jaw when she spotted Kaede.

"I hear yer troubled." The old woman began, stepping past Sango to enter the hut unannounced. "Come sit, now. I shall see what I can."

"Of course, Lady Kaede."

The trained warrior sat on the wooden floorboards, her long legs sprawled out in the lowered entryway. She tensed when the healer's cold hand slid between the thicker outer kimono to reveal the paper thin undergarment, conscious of the girl's modesty.

"Hmm." Kaede hummed, placing her ear against the fabric.

"Is it weird?" Shippo whispered loudly with his childish lack of filter.

"Hush, silly." Kagome shushed him before she pulled the two kids back outside.

Rin fidgeted, wrapping her long hair in loops around her fingers. She allowed the color to distract her, as it often did. It was such a pretty silver. Admittedly, she did miss her brown locks. The soft brown hair with it's frizz and split ends held far fewer expectations than the silky starlight.

She peeked up at Kagome. The older demoness was dancing with concern, pacing back and forth, but she too stayed a distance from the door where the scents were the strongest. The last bite of winter's cold acted like a sponge, absorbing the offending smells and caressing them with it's forgiving embrace. So long as they were outside.

Shippo sat with his face pressed up against the wood of the door, completely unaffected and oblivious of his companion's conscious efforts to avoid it.

A gasp from inside drew their attention.

Kagome's ear swiveled at the sound, she paused mid-step.

If there was a way to merge through the door, the fox kit would have found it. He was so focused on evesdropping with his nose that he hadn't heard Kaede's footsteps. Shippo toppled over and rolled inside when she slid the barrier away.

Rin hopped to her feet and rushed over to her teacher and main caretaker, stopping short at a polite distance away.

"Ye were right to call fer me." The old woman addressed her, patting her cheek. "A smart child, ye be. From this point on our dear Sango must not be strained. Her condition, I see, is a sensitive one."

Worried, the little girl rushed inside, slipping ahead of Kagome.

The fear and anxiety still hung chokingly heavy in the air, stained with the saltiness of the tears that filled Sango's eyes.

Yet, contrary to all of the overwhelming scents that made every little hair in her nose tingle, a bewildered smile played across the human woman's rosy lips.

She looked up at the confused pup.

"It seems I'm having twins."

Rin's eyes lit up with wonder.

"That makes so much sense! There were _two_ heartbeats!" The black haired Kitsune gushed as she pulled her sisterly friend close. "Oh my gosh, congratulations! Miroku is going to be stoked!"

The Taijia flushed before returning the embrace, grinning ear to ear. "He will be, I think." She laughed. "Is 'stoked' a good thing?"

Kagome giggled. "It's a great thing."

Pleasant and restrain, Rin smiled. She took a step back from the two.

The expectant mother stopped her. Sango reached for the child demoness' wrist and gently pulled her into their loving hold. Rin practically melted between the two and she nearly cried when Sango whispered a thank you in her ear. All she could do in reply was nod.

She was so grateful to have those women in her life.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Sango and Kagome sat resting against one another, hand in hand, at a small covered tea shop near the village center. It was the best solution to the Kitsune's skin-craving instincts that they had come up with when she'd explained it to them.

It may not have been enough to satisfy her urges forever, but it was going to have to tide her over until a better solution cropped up.

At the beginning, Miroku and Sango had taken turns relaxing with her. After a while Sango couldn't help the spider creeping jealousy when she saw her husband lounging with the priestess, no matter how innocent the contact. Kagome had caught on to her best friend's emotions quickly and started limiting the time she spent with the once-monk. It stopped all together after she'd injured his arm—neither one of them blamed her for that, but the guilt must have been a gaping sore for the fox—though the two still trained together regularly. They focused exclusively on their holy powers.

With the retired demon slayer strictly limited from any overly straining chores, training, exercise or anything else that made life exciting, the woman had plenty of time to enjoy the priestess' company.

The girls watched the spring rain as it pattered on the ground and slipped from the shingled roof in streams.

"I'm glad that you're getting out more. Shippo said that yesterday you taught him and Rin to catch sweetfish."

"Yeah, badly. You know I can't fish."

Kagome glanced at the pregnant woman, then back down at her steaming tea with a smile. Natural, like the girl that had welcomed Sango into their group with open arms and a warm heart, despite the Taijia's failed assassination attempt on Inuyasha's life.

"It's probably the weather." She explained. "Er, not the rain, of course. Just the springtime in general. It always cheers me up. Makes me feel lighter."

"It'll have been a year soon."

A stitch in the fabric of the Kitsune's face tightened a hair before she nodded. "Yeah, it's gone by crazy fast."

Sango's lips fell and she gripped her friend's hand tighter. Her other palm patted Kagome's knee, over where a small hole was beginning to wear in the denim jeans.

"You should visit him, Kagome."

Every once in a while she made sure to bring up the subject. The Slayer knew that the girl was healing well and growing stronger with every passing day, but she'd never truly be whole until she faced the demons that she'd been avoiding since returning home to them.

The teacup clicked against the bench when Kagome set it aside.

"I know." She replied.

"You need closure."

"I will soon." The time traveler said, avoiding her usual excuses. Her voice was more sure than it had been all winter. "Once I know what I want to say to him."

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

There was a big difference between taking the time to heal and procrastination.

Kagome knew that she had been procrastinating.

So by the time the cherry blossoms started to form buds on their branches, the fox demoness had started training out on her own to build up her confidence. She hoped that she could crack the codes to her demonic powers on her own, or at the very least figure out how to dampen their potency.

Inuyasha had grown up alone, so he had been forced to learn his powers to survive. There wasn't any reason why she couldn't do the same.

"Okay." She told the crops of trees. "I can do this."

It was a memory that inspired her.

Back in the demon realm, when she lay alone on that stone bench in the lily grove. She had made the little red tulip bloom with just a touch. Somehow it had thrived off of the power that she hadn't been focused on concealing.

With that in mind, she'd experimented with feeding her energy to various plants to see how they were effected. The hard part was grasping her energy to be able to channel it, but after a couple weeks she started to get the hang of it.

It wasn't about structure or following procedure.

It was about feeling everything in her body.

Kagome took hold of the energy swirling deep within her core. She didn't try to call it to the surface like she had to with her Miko powers. She just held it, admiring the massive sensation without letting it consume her.

There was a comforting balance to it; it felt like being tucked snug in a bed in a cool, dark room while also letting the sun warm her cheeks as she danced in a field of cattails. Kagome sat on the center axis of a scale, evenly weighted by the push and pull of the life within and around her.

The demoness closed her eyes and reached out to the rough bark of an old cherry tree. The tree's energy sprang to life beneath her fingertips, the power a living thing that met to greet her.

Slowly, she released her breath.

Kagome imagined a maple tap working in reverse.

It took patience to get the flow started, but it didn't take much energy for the tree to be satisfied once it began.

Branches hung low and heavy with pink and white blossoms when she opened her eyes to check on her progress. It was a beacon of happiness in the otherwise sleeping field. Kagome smiled so wide that the corners of her eyes pinched. It was the biggest thing that she'd brought to bloom and color so far.

Unfortunately, her excitement didn't last very long.

The two energies, the trees' and her own, resonated with each other in a sudden pulse. Her gasp drew everything inward as she pulled back, the visible stream of electric power that tugged away with her made her eyes grow wide. Light sparked and flickered along the tether.

It lasted only a second before the bond snapped.

Kagome stared up in shock at the browned leaved and withered flower heads as they began to shower around her. With some nervous hesitation, she looked down at her slender hands that glowed a rich, demonic purple.

She killed the tree by stealing it's life energy!

No...

It _gave_ her it's power.

Kagome laughed out with awkward triumph over the new discovery before a rogue, arching spark from her hands made her jumpy.

Okay! Cool! That's new!

What did she do with it!?

The dark light threatened to take over her body, the familiar sensation of her deprived instincts tickled the back of her neck. Not allowing the panic to get a foothold, the fox took deep, steadying breaths and rooted herself firmly to the ground.

Kagome reached forward and gripped the trunk of the tree once more. She forced the power back into the ancient, gnarled bark. The sheer buildup of pressure that she shoved into it have been too much too quickly; it's cells couldn't hold it. The tree bowed outward before bursting. A halo of light sent branches, bark and dead leaves flying.

Her arms flew up to shield her head.

When the fallout of dismembered tree parts came to an end the cherry looked as if it had been destroyed by a violent strike of lightning.

She swallowed.

Well... better a tree than a friend, right?

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

"Hey, I'm sorry I haven't visited yet. I've been... preoccupied."

Kagome chuckled and looked down at her scuffed Mary Janes.

"I know, that's not much of an excuse. I've run out of all the good ones."

The silence that followed was a bit awkward, so she cleared her throat and sat down in the grass next to him at the top of the highest rise in Inuyasha's forest. It was part of the forest that would survive to her time period, connected to her family's property. It overlooked the village and you could just make out the rooftops through the trees.

"Look, I need to move on with my life. I know that sounds harsh, but Sango was right—as usual. She knew I needed to come here for that to happen."

Out of her bag the demoness pulled a pair of fat yuzu fruit, placed one in front of him, and began peeling her own. The sadness in her eyes belied the smile on her lips.

"Miroku and Sango had twins last week. Two adorable, tiny girls. Miroku calls them his miracle babies, you know, since they wouldn't have existed if Kohaku hadn't made that wish."

The priestess sucked the juice from one of her orange slices.

"Today's the anniversary of Naraku's death, they're saying. But, I have no clue how accurate that is. We're still on the Chinese calendar, so it might be a couple days off."

Kagome sat there quietly for several minutes as she ate. There was no expectation for him to respond. The day was cool for summer, but not chilly and the wind was just strong enough to make her long hair flutter just above the grass.

Discarded peels began to dry out beside her before she spoke up again.

"The twins helped me put that final piece together and realize what I was forgetting." The young woman stated with a heavy heart. "Life is still going on. With or without me. Without _you..."_ She held a certain pride for making it that far without crying.

"Inuyasha, I loved you. I still love you and part of me will probably always love you. But I can't let that hold me back anymore. The Jewel corrected your timeline, and I accept that now. We were never supposed to meet in the first place. I'm so thankful for the time we _did_ have together. I can't continue wasting my life away wishing that things were different. I was given this new existence and it's a terrifying, awesome gift with lots of ups and downs. I want to take full advantage of it!"

After the bulk of her speech, Kagome got to her feet and wiped at her dewy eyelashes.

"I'm going to live a full, exciting life. But I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for me and for Shippo."

She turned to face the knee high stone monument where Inuyasha's physical remains had been buried after his soul was taken to the afterlife. The markers existed in the future, weathered and unreadable. Never in her youth had she considered that one of them could have belonged to the spirited half demon. Heck, the two of them had even had _lunch_ beside them more than a few times, overlooking the bustling metropolis of Tokyo.

Before leaving, Kagome placed another ripened fruit in front of the second, slightly smaller marker.

She finally felt forgiveness.

"Take care of him, Kikyou."

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

At first he hadn't known who the female Kitsune had been. Some down on her luck refugee, no doubt, considering the motley crew of misfits that Inuyasha's band tended to acquire over the years.

The second time around there was no mistaking who the young demoness was.

Or, more over, who she had been.

The human Miko that his kid half brother had taken to carrying around like a flea on his back. The defiant way she strode towards him with such foolish fearlessness was absolutely, undeniably her.

So, the woman had been transformed as well?

A Fox wouldn't have been his first choice for her. Perhaps an insufferably talkative cat or maybe even a mangy wolf if he was going to be generous. Foxes held a certain grace and finesse that she _most_ certainly lacked. Something she had proved time and time again with each of their encounters both on and off the battle field. He found the juxtaposition intriguing.

"It's about time you showed up!" She snapped in his direction.

Sesshoumaru cringed inwardly.

Sensitive ears were more a curse than an advantage whenever _that_ woman was involved. How could he forget? The Inu Youkai straightened his posture, shifted the bundle from under his arm and tossed it at her feet since the Monk that usually mediated their transactions and his ward were missing from the scene.

"Do you know how many months you've been making Rin wait for you to visit?!"

He didn't grace her with an answer.

"I don't actually know, since I've stopped counting the days." She stepped over the haphazardly wrapped package of delicate spider silks. "But it's almost the end of _summer,_ Sesshoumaru!"

Her anger with him must have been festering like an open wound. The last time that particular demoness had spoken to him she had the confidence of a whipped house-pet. Now she held all of the directness and impudence that the Dog had come to expect from the odd priestess over the years.

Exhausting, much like his late brother.

The woman stopped just shy of touching his chest, her tall downy ears flicked with an annoyance that amused him.

"Don't you give me that smirk, you ass! You're supposed to be Rin's _Father!_ But so far you've been doing a pretty lousy job! Bring her gifts three times a year isn't nearly—"

The words continued to fall from her snarled lips, not that he heard them. They were nothing but a dull hum after she'd dropped the one that captured his attention in it's fullest.

 _Father._

Was that what he had become to the little girl?

It was true that his human ward had been changed into a demon by the wish of the Shikon No Tama. She'd absorbed the demonic essence and his own father's blood that had been shed from Inuyasha's descent into the underworld. Purple stripes—his fathers familial markings that told the world of his power and lineage—now graced the child's skin.

She had become his heir and successor, that much had been obvious.

The girl was still Rin, the delicate thing that he had resurrected and entertained the company of. She still smelled like sunflowers and pine pitch, only with the added ferality of his father's blood that hovered around her like the hungry shadow of a dead man. Thankfully, her newfound Youki was distinctly her own; an Inu Youkai aura that belonged to no other.

There was a spark of light withing her that no natural demon held. It must have been a side effect of the Jewel's wish, since the Kitsune standing her ground before him held the same spark shining brightly within her aura.

A spark tucked within a surprisingly vast, raw power that had begun to gnaw and crackle at his senses like an unruly beast.

The Fox had the potential to rival him in strength with the proper instruction... But as she was she had a greater likelihood of posing a threat to his...—to Rin's life and well being.

Fortunately for the Miko, she had several aspects that made her valuable.

The first being the love and respect of his blood child. So long as she maintained that he would not extinguish her life without adequate reason. To do so would cause Rin to be distraught.

Secondly, she had something that he lacked: parental experience.

She had taken in the fox kit, after all. And she had been more a mother to Inuyasha than ever a lover. She'd mothered every creature that steeped foot into their fold, humans and demons alike. She was a _woman_ after all, regardless of her species. Maternal instinct was bound to come easily to her.

The dog demon could take advantage of that as well as her natural talent for meddling. Rin trembled and hesitated when she saw him those days, so he kept his distance, unsure to what he'd done to incite such a response from the small girl that had followed him for years without protest or fear. Without any prodding, he knew that the priestess would point out his faults and mistakes.

With any luck, she might even be more tolerable as a demon than she had been a human.

Sesshoumaru glared at the dainty fingers that waved in front of his face.

"Hey! Are you even—? Oh... are you alright, Sesshoumaru? You've always been sort of quiet, but very focused. You're actually spacing out a little..."

Her concern made him curious.

He might be able to work with her after all; a mutually beneficial arrangement, if given the time and patience.

The things he was willing to put up with for that pup surprised him.

"I will not train you."

Shocking blue eyes looked up at him with surprise and confusion. "Wha—..." She stuttered, her mouth opening and closing like a fish lying in the grass. The stunned silence was far preferable than her condescending lecture. "I didn't ask you this ti—"

A raised hand cut her off. Her gaze focused on the twin magenta striped and avoided the razor sharp claws.

"Not until you are worth my time, Miko... But I will not stop you if you intend to follow me."

The blues widened. "I can join you out there?"

The Western Lord waited patiently for her response as she looked away to consider the meaning behind his words. It seemed that the year had taught her that brashness was not always the best strategy when it came to making important decisions.

Finally she turned to him once more.

"I'll have lots of questions, Lord Sesshoumaru." The title coming from her lips was gratifying. "Will you answer them?"

"I may."

"What about Rin? She hasn't said it outright, but I know she _wants_ to see you more."

"Rin is free to do as she pleases."

Her face lit up with satisfaction, animalistic ears twitched beyond her control. The young demoness' concern for the pup told him that he had made the right decision in extending the truce.

With a step backwards to put a more suitable distance between them and a smile on her small face, the Youkai priestess bowed to him. It was a pleasure to see that she did, in fact, have some respect.

"I think Rin would be pleased if you were to stay for tea?"

Yes. Tea would be a suitable place to begin.

Sesshoumaru granted her with a curt nod and followed the woman across the modest courtyard to the building housing all of those that had been eavesdropping on the conversation. To where his daughter waited with a heart stopping smile and a ready kettle.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Kagome settled with her back against the soothing energies that danced within the wooden lip of the well, her tail resting in her lap. Sesshoumaru lounged against a large cedar across the clearing from her, his eyes lazily following the two children frolicking among the tall wildflowers.

It had taken some convincing and prodding, but as soon as she got the Dog demon to tell Rin that she could go play, the little pup bound off with an excitement that she'd been holding back all year.

It was okay for the kids to be kids, that was the first thing that he needed to know about raising a daughter.

He'd done fairly well when she was still a human, but now that she was his flesh and blood Kagome had a feeling that he was totally overthinking things. So, she took it upon herself to help where she could and try to mend the relationship that she knew they would have in the future. It was actually surprising how little he had resisted her advice.

The priestess smiled at the twinkling bells of laughter before looking down to the manila envelope in her hands.

Charging forward, she unwound the string from it's round fastener and flipped up the flap that secured the contents. The maroon folder within had been bound like an employee handbook, thick and organized. It was titled _The Guardian Guidebook_ in gold letterhead script and a small round ogre illustration was stamped at the bottom corner.

Okay, Kagome thought. That was a bit overboard.

When she flipped it over she was taken aback by the photo.

A full color glamour shot print of Koenma covered a huge portion of the back cover like a cheesy mass-market romance novel. The Kitsune tried to hold back her laugh, but it came out as a snort when she read the 'review' at the bottom.

' _A must read for every Guardian of the Realms just starting out!' -Jorge Saotome_

Koenma had made it as unintimidating as he possibly could, and for that she was immensely grateful.

Kagome flipped open the cover page and delved into the secrets written within.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

 **Chapter Two: End**

 **(I changed Rin's marking to make better sense. She had no reason having Sesshoumaru or his mother's marks when it was the Inu no Taisho's blood that changed her. I'll be updating that in Just Instincts when I get the chance. Thank you for reading!)**


	3. Predictable

**Chapter Three: Predictable**

 **Edo Period, The Western Territories**

For what felt like the thousandth time since unlocking it's mysteries, Kagome flipped through the pages of the Guidebook. It told her everything that she'd ever wanted to learn about the Spirit Detectives, yet nothing as to the information's purpose in her hands or what that meant for her future now that she had it.

A fat three quarters of the booklet was made up of personal files. Most of the mugshot-esque profile pictures she recognized—a grimacing Yusuke, Hiei refusing to look at the camera, a smug looking Kazuma and Botan laughing at an unseen joke among them. Some were new faces—Spirit Detectives long since retired or labeled deceased and others that have strongly influenced the Detectives' timeline, allies and enemies alike. Towards the back there was a variety of seemingly unrelated things including an illustrated diagram of the Spirit Realm's Waystation, maps of the Demon Realm from different time periods showing drastic changes in territory distributions, and a recipe labeled 'King Yama's favorite stew.'

On the very last page there was a short and vague note from the Spirit Prince himself that wished her luck in her travels and that he looked forward to meeting her.

 _Meeting_ her.

Not 'again,' but for the first time.

It left her with very few hints as to what being the 'Guardian of the Realms' entailed. That was okay, she didn't exactly have a 'Guardian of the Shikon Jewel' guidebook and things things had turned out... adequate.

She'd try harder not to shatter the realms like she had the Jewel. Other than that all she could do was take it one day at a time and figure it out along the way. She was going to ask Koenma about it in person when she was able to travel to the Spirit Realm, which meant that her one of her tasks was learning to control that portal.

But that advanced ability was going to have to wait until she had the perfected the basics, at least.

At some point the pages had stopped fluttering by and the priestess found herself holding the packet open to where Kyoto's kindest demon redhead smiled politely up from his profile's main portrait. Of all the confidential files that she'd read through, his had peeked her interest the most—held her attention captive.

Because he was a _Fox._

Kurama had been a criminal, just like Shizume had said—a notorious Kitsune thief that had made quite the name for himself long before the separation of the Demon Realm. He'd been hunted and forced to take refuge in the body of a human fetus when his own was beyond healing. Everything had clicked into place when she read that. It explained why he had a human mother and what Yusuke had meant when he told them she'd taken away Kurama's choice by killing his human body. The priestess had destroyed his mortal flesh and unlocked the beast hidden within.

" _She'd unknowingly made the choice that I had been too weak to make on my own. For that, I owe Kagome more than she may ever fully realize."_

The guilt and pain from injuring Kurama that she had worked up and worried raw that month with the Spirit Detectives washed away like a retreating tide. Her power flux had inadvertently _helped_ him. It helped him to release his true self and form—a form that she'd yet to see in person.

On the next page there were stills from live footage of a tournament that had been mentioned several times within the files. There was a thin veil of smoke and the angle was a bit weird, but she could still make out tall, alert fox ears, long, pin-straight silver hair, and the toned slope of bare shoulders.

Kagome slammed the booklet shut when her cheeks turned red and she glanced sheepishly at where Sesshoumaru stood staring off the cliff at the starry night sky in his odd nightly ritual. Her skin tingled, but she had no other option but to ignore it.

Sango was more than willing to help her combat the urges, but with her arms full with two fussy infants occupying her hours and Sesshoumaru carting her across the countryside for days on end, the physical contact that she received was well below the threshold of what Kagome probably _should_ have been getting. The demoness recognized the symptoms and treaded cautiously. In villages she would casually brush the hands of merchants when exchanging money or stranger's arms in a crowd, but the culture of the Feudal era was so reserved that accidental shin contact was nearly impossible without seeming a tramp.

It was a trepidatious waiting game to see when she would lose control of herself.

The Dog demon peered at her from over his creamy pelt, his eyes narrow and nose upturned in annoyance. Kagome took that as her cue to take a walk. She packed the Guidebook back into her satchel.

Out there in the field, she may as well have been alone.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

"Attack me."

Kagome shifted her bow from one hand to the other and eyed the Inu Youkai as he walked away from her and into the rugged clearing ahead of them.

"I thought you weren't going to train me."

"This is not training." He explained before turning to face her. His stance was casual, his face uninterested—just as he looked before almost every battle she'd seen him fight. "This is self study. I am simply the target."

The two demons were taking a short reprieve from their usual schedule of information gathering. The Western Lands were no longer under Sesshoumaru's control, with no demon subjects to maintain his station. But he wasn't willing to accept his human replacement to be left up to chance. So they meddled.

He would have Kagome disguise herself as a human and infiltrate village meetings or gatherings to round up whatever gossip that she could on the feuding human lords. Occasionally Shippo or Rin would join her under Glamours, but more often they stayed behind with Sesshoumaru, Jaken or at Kaede's village, since the jobs tended to be long and boring.

"Self study." The Kitsune repeated skeptically. "Right."

Not wanting to disappoint him, she calmly knocked an arrow and loosed it towards him, knowing full well that he was more than capable of dodging it.

True to it's mark, the flaming pink projectile careened towards his chest—the man's largest target—and was centimeters from making contact with his black leather armor when he caught it from the air. The purity enveloped his arm and sparks rained when his aura clashed with the power. The demoness smelt the all too familiar stench of singed flesh when he dropped it to the ground.

She was frozen in a shocked silence for several long heartbeats while he inspected his burned palm in mute fascination. Such a small pocket of her Miko powers wasn't nearly enough to kill him, but she bet it still hurt like hell.

"What the heck was that!" She snapped when he closed his fist. There was no blood, the burn was completely cauterized. "Are you crazy?"

Was the self study for her, or for _him_?

"Again." he said as if Kagome hadn't spoken.

"No way!"

The younger Sesshoumaru wasn't yet immune to her purity like he would be in the future and the priestess couldn't read him—his emotionless mask was as impenetrable as ever—so there was no telling what his motives were. But if he was going to be stupid like that and play around with hazardous materials like a child in a fireplace, she wasn't going to play his games.

" _Again._ "

The second time it came out as a demand, not a request. To accentuate the ice in his voice, the demon Lord pulled Tokijin from his sash. The blade glinted in the light and fit solidly in his grip as an extension of his arm. His very lean, very capable, very _deadly_ arm.

Okay... Maybe she would play a bit. But only that _one_ time would she give into his threats.

Kagome lowered her stance as she'd done countless times in practice and flew another arrow. It was quick to be sliced in two, it's power dispersed to nothing.

In a drastic change of urgency, Sesshoumaru's bitter aura snapped it's teeth at her toes, forcing her to push back with her own and try harder. One after another her arrows were deflected and destroyed by the graceful dance of his sword. The vixen felt just the opposite as she twisted and spun to chase his ever moving silks. She swore that his feet barely even touched the ground.

The more frustrated she became, the less she thought about form, and the less she thought about it the lighter her own movements became until she was nearly following him step for step. Without even realizing it, her demonic power began to entwine with the pink of her purity, bleaching her arrows with a purple sheened white light that hurt to look at. Each release sent out a wave of compression through the air.

The fear of hurting him wasn't there like it was with all of the others. It was _Sesshoumaru._ The guy was practically invincible.

She could let herself be free.

"Just stay still, won't you!" The demoness bit out as her last arrow plunged into the sturdy branch of the tree he'd used used to shift directions. Sinews of bark curled around the shaft.

When Kagome reached back to pluck yet another finely feathered projectile, her hand was met with an empty quiver. Incredulity made her miss a step. The skilled Lord took full advantage of the opening and the young woman was forced to jump back to avoid the swing. Compared to his bouts with Inuyasha, the arc of his blade was wide and a bit too slow; he was going easy on her.

She watched him wearily as he placed the sheathless sword back at his waistband and straightened his shoulders. He peered down the length of his nose at her. Kagome recognized it as an expectant look.

Relaxing her guard, she gripped her knees and took a deep breath. The brilliant glow of the bow had begun to fade, but her demonic power still pulsed giddily within her veins. It soaked her every nerve ending and sent endorphins to her brain.

It was a rush! She flexed her hand to study the feeling.

"When I don't focus on it, when I focus on _you_ and not the bow, it comes easily." She shared her findings.

When Kagome looked back up, the arrow lodged in the tree caught the corner of her eye. It pulsed with power like a growing reservoir.

The energy hadn't dissipated, dispersing harmlessly into the atmosphere as it did when the Dog demon dismembered the arrows. It still existed within the wood, feeding off of the tree. Somehow she could sense that it was still a part of her; like the weaves of her glamours there was a wisp of a thread attached to it.

"So, I need to act on feeling if I actually want to learn anything..."

The Kitsune wondered what would happen if she pulled on that thread.

Just a little tug—

The power erupted like a bomb. It shot out in a loud, blinding flourish.

Sesshoumaru was fast enough to brace himself and block the brunt of the force with his own crackling energy, but the shock sent Kagome flying backwards with a startled shriek. When she skidded to a stop, her heels had left grooves in the dirt and she was laughing.

"The look on your face!" She exclaimed with glee. Her jeans were frayed at the knee and hem and the once white button-down was beyond repair. Her hair was sporting a few new split ends and she could feel the thing of minor burns on her skin, but it had been worth it. "I caught you off guard!"

The older demon glared back at her. His face and normally pristine whites sported smudges of black soot. With the back of his hand the demon wiped a spot from his left cheek and took a step towards her.

"Again."

Kagome balked. "Again!? But I'm out of arrows!"

In a real fight, her opponent would have taken advantage of her unarmed state.

So, naturally, Sesshoumaru charged forward, his claws raised and glowing. It forced the priestess to shield herself with a barrier. The bow sparked to life with power, but she wasn't sure what good it was going to do her without anything to shoot from it.

Somehow, 'self study' had evolved into 'training' _real_ fast _._

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

Jaken paced fitfully between the dense pine trees, unsure which way he should go. Left would take him back to the camp, which would have been the obvious choice to flee towards and he'd be discovered in no time. But right lead to a steep embankment that he doubted his ability to scurry up.

Oh! Why, oh why couldn't it have been just him and his Lord Sesshoumaru again? Those days were just so peaceful! Taking in the human girl had been tolerable to a point. But _Foxes!?_

Foxes had a terrible knack for causing all sorts of mischief and mayhem!

Not a single day passed without the Imp being set off into a frenzy. If it wasn't one thing it was another. The last time it had been bees—brought into camp by Shippo, proudly flaunting their candy filled hive. It'd taken threehours to get all of the stingers out of those children and another _four_ ridding himself and Ah-Un! The spoils of the war hadn't nearly been as delicious as the Miko wench claimed them to be upon her and his Lord's return.

Jaken didn't even _like_ honey.

Blueberries were a far sweeter and safer endeavor.

His heart stopped when the diminutive demon heard a rustle and a pile of snow fell from one of the evergreen branches. He spun around, holding the worn handle of the Staff of Two Heads out in front of him defensively, scouring for signs of life. The ground had already been disturbed by their settlement, so looking for fresh footsteps was futile. The cold made his sense of smell all but useless and his hearing was nowhere near as sharp as a canine's.

A curse slipped through Jaken's clenched beak.

Silence stretched on for what felt like endless, excruciating hours as the snowflakes accumulated on his small black cap.

Something wrapped it's claws around his leg.

From the depths of his chest a blood curdling scream flooded his lungs. He gasped for air, unable to see the surface. Jaken fell to the ice on the ground, his staff rolled just out of reach. He swatted blindly at the invisible demon.

"Ah!" He squawked and screamed. "Ah! Release me, you cur!"

His assailant giggled.

"Tag." Said the little fox, holding a magic leaf away from his forehead as he settled into a butterfly squat on his babysitter's chest. "You're 'It,' Jaken!"

The Imp discarded Shippo into the snow and got to his feet, grumbling complaints while brushing off his robes.

He was getting too old for such shenanigans.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

There were hundreds of humans milling around the square and not a single one of them looked twice in her direction. She was just a little human girl out with her older sister to get a glimpse of one of the traveling Daimyou just like the rest of them.

It was fun playing human with Kagome's Glamour. Right then, Rin had black hair cropped tight to her ears, brown eyes that were much darker than her original milk chocolates, and tanned skin to give the appearance of a girl that worked long hours in the sun. She wore her plainest rose kimono—something that Sesshoumaru would have never even considered getting for her without Kagome's suggestion.

The Miko by her side had her black hair tied up in a tight bun with severely straight bangs cut just above her brows. She was equally bronzed and the inhuman blue glow of her eyes made the brown illusion glitter with flecks of green at the right angle. To highlight her age and availability, she wore a pale furisode decorated with navy squares and a bright orange obi—the most expensive thing the farmer's daughter would own to try and catch the eye of a Lord or high ranking soldier.

She hoped to attract the attention of someone who might know the details of Ieyasu's next move.

"Can we get Takoyaki while we're here?" Rin asked. The rich smells of grilled and fried octopus hung over the city center like a delicious smog.

After scoping their surroundings, the older demoness said, "Sure, that sounds good!" Before guiding them through the bustling crowd to an alleyway between the ostentatious buildings of the city. "There should be vendors this way, and we'll be closer to the Lords when they arrive at the estate for the council meeting."

The alley wasn't dark or in an out of the way district, so several others had also taken the shortcut to avoid the commotion in the streets. They passed a collection of merchants and foot soldiers, huddled in a circle gambling for a pile of bronze coins and a jug of sweet smelling alcohol. A heavyset man on his lunch break sat on the back steps of a restaurant. Most of them politely avoided looking at the two girls, but a few brazen eyes follow their movements.

They stared in the way man did with women, not monsters.

Their group never hid their true identities back home in Kaede's village. But as the time passed, some of the villagers started to forget that the two demonesses had ever been born and raised mortal. They'd started to fear them. The change when they were in disguise was awkward, but not unpleasant.

When the two Youkai passed a cross-alley between the backs of four buildings, someone whistled in their direction.

Rin found the source of the catcall easily.

Two young men dressed in Samurai finery swaggered down the perpendicular path, their long hair bound tight at the crowns or their heads. The shorter of the two wasn't much older than herself, fourteen at most. His clothes were slightly less impressive than his senior and the hilt of the sword at his hip had the frayed wrappings of a hand-me-down in need of attention.

A new recruit to the way of the sword.

"Look at this!" The older man enthused and crossed his arms. He stepped out in front of them, forcing the girls to stop. "It's not safe for young ladies to wander off alone. Is it, Ryousuke?" The Samurai feigned concern and nudged his companion in the shoulder with his elbow.

Glancing up at his mentor, the feminine faced boy gave a half cocked grin. He moved closer to Kagome—they were the same height.

"You should accompany us tonight." With a flourish of his sleeve Ryousuke placed his hand at his obi sash in a caricature of causality, just above the solitary blade. "We're _Samurai_ under the noble Ukita Hideie. You can trust us to keep you safe from those prowling vultures."

The gamblers that had been staring at the encounter turned back to their game scolded, shamed and unwilling to risk their necks for a couple of farm girls.

"Your little sister can join too..." Kagome made to protest, but the elder of the men wrapped his arm around her shoulder and rubbed the pad of his thumb against her jaw. "I'm sure we can make it worth your while." The words came out a husky purr.

Rin saw the Kitsune stiffen; she could nearly feel the breath leaving her chest in a shudder.

The pup's eyes widened with realization: those men weren't actually concerned about their well being. What they wanted... She turned scarlet.

"Oh, I think you spooked the little rice louse." The Samurai teased the boy. "But that's fine. They're cuter that way."

"Kagome?" The little girl snaked her small fingers around her caretaker's arm. "We should leave."

The priestess looked at her with a start, breaking free from the spell that the touch had placed her under. Her normally calm and beautiful pink aura spiked with a sudden flare of demonic power. The spiritually blind and blissfully ignorant men didn't see the glow fighting for control under those masquerading brown eyes.

"Rin."

Horror danced on the tip of the Dog demoness' little nose.

Rin tugged on the Kitsune's sleeve in an attempt to free her from the stronger grasp of the adult male. "Excuse me." She said in a firm, unapologetic voice and leveled them with a cold stare. "We have somewhere that we need to be."

The Samurai turned his annoyed focus on her. "You shouldn't speak for your older sister like that. I think she wants to stay!"

Kagome pushed away from the both of them with ease but found her back pressed against a wall for support. Her breathing was clipped too short, her eyes hazy and unfocused. Concern filled Rin. Something was very wrong. She was about to call out for help when the older demoness grabbed her shoulder and squeezed.

"Rin. _Run._ "

The grip was too tight.

"But, Kagom—"

The rise of raw power cut her off. It was still trapped beneath the Fox's skin, but even the Inu child, as untrained as she was, could sense the extent of it. A tsunami loomed behind a crumbling foundation.

Her heart leapt into her throat and Rin swore that she could taste blood.

She could. She'd bitten open her lip.

" _Run!_ "

Rin Ran.

The younger boy screamed after her, but she'd already passed the tense collection of ruffians guarding their spoils. Nobody moved to stop or help her. Nobody even looked twice at the little human girl running away from a couple of lecherous traveling Samurai.

Because nobody could feel what she did.

Nobody except Sesshoumaru.

Her face mashed into white silks when the demon Lord appeared in her path, abruptly and from seemingly nowhere. A woman beside them clamored at the ethereal sight of his silver hair and pointed ears. The crowd around them began to panic and flee; ants in a disturbed mound. Her paternal figure didn't look down at her, his eyes were fiercely trained towards the direction she'd left. Fixated on Kagome's boiling power.

Sesshoumaru rested his large hand on her head and idly brushed the short black hair of the Glamour. Any fear that she'd felt up to that moment left her in a rush of calm.

Nothing could hurt them.

 _Lord Sesshoumaru_ was there.

"Rin." The intensity in his voice reassured her further. "Return to camp."

"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru."

A moment later he was less than a ghost on the wind.

Rin didn't hesitate before starting off in the direction if the forest, where the others would be waiting for her in the safety of the camp. She weaved and ducked through the chaos of the confused and frightened tourists. She'd almost made it out of the throng of the city center when a toddler's cry stopped her in her tracks.

He'd fallen to the ground in the frenzy. People didn't even look down when they stepped over his tiny body. A few heavy booted feet left bruises on his delicate baby skin. Those shrieks hurt her heart just as much as they hurt her ears.

But she was given the order to get to camp.

It wasn't even a decision. With a cry of frustration, the pup spun around and raced to the helpless child. She couldn't just ignore him.

She wasn't a monster.

Just as Rin pulled the terrified little boy into her arms, ready to seek out his mother quickly with her nose so that she could continue following's Lord Sesshoumaru's order, every hair on her body prickled. It was the same electric power that she'd felt within Kagome, only stronger. Unrestrained. Bile rose in her throat as she looked towards the west just in time to see a glowing ball of golden light fly up into the sky, taking the unruly energy with it.

Rin barely registered the sound of the toddler screaming in her eardrum or the feel of his strong little grip digging into the flesh of her neck.

The orb of Sesshoumaru's Youki exploded outwards in the air above them all.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

Kagome's groan came out as a strangled whimper when she shifted.

Her body ached all over; it felt like she'd been in a car accident. But that was impossible, there were no cars in Feudal Japan to crash. The muscles in her limbs were stiff and there was a sharp crescendo of pain in her neck and chest.

Bloody iron was all that she could smell and when she cracked open her crusty eyes the dark of night did little to hide the red.

"Rin!" The priestess instantly regretted her gasp when two broken ribs made their presence known. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep a cry from escaping.

A low growl sent a vibration through her.

"Keep quiet."

It dawned on Kagome that she was lying against a body. Her hand came into focus, resting on pale skin just below an angry gaping wound and smeared with dried, flaking blood. Movement brought her attention to Shippo, curled up in a ball against her belly. His dirty cream tail flicked, but her outburst hadn't woken him. On the other side of the pile was Rin, tangled up in the sleeve of a burnt and torn haori and huddled close to the body warmth.

They were both covered in brown spots of blood, but to her relief none of it was their own.

All of it belonged to him.

"I think we fell, Sesshoumaru." The Kitsune let her head lay back on his bicep, too drained to protest the proximity. It felt so _nice_ to touch skin again.

"Hn." He grunted, unamused. His head was propped up against the two headed dragon. Jaken was missing, but just because she couldn't make out his smell among the iron, didn't mean that the imp wasn't there somewhere posted guard.

Sesshoumaru had grabbed her just before the power took hold, inadvertently saving the lived of hundreds of innocent humans in the city while shielding Rin. It wouldn't have mattered how hard the Dog tried to block the blast—at that point blank range some damage was inevitable. Kagome looked at the extent of the wound. Even after the untold hours that she'd been unconscious, his entire side and arm was burned. He was torn through from the lower right of his ribs to his left collarbone.

It looked like a gruesome seat-belt.

They really had been in a Feudal car wreck.

"Are you... Does it hurt?"

Now, that was a stupid question. Of course the gaping hole in his chest hurt. He may have been an asshole more often than not and liked to pretend that he felt less than nothing in that heart of stone, but being a demon didn't make him numb to pain. Only more tolerant.

They weren't invincible.

Carefully, Kagome extracted her other arm from underneath her side without disturbing the fox kit. "I can heal it." She warned. "It'll scar if I don't."

His hand shot around from behind her back, binding both of her wrists in his firm grasp before she could touch the mess of flesh. "Leave it." The usual venom didn't stain the words. Instead, Sesshoumaru sounded tired. "It will serve as a reminder. I should not have underestimated your power. Or your stupidity."

"I'm not stupid." She grumbled. Not as stupid as the guy that would rather suffer to prove a point than be healed.

Of course he refused; Kagome had a sour feeling that he would. That scar existed on his chest in the future. She'd _felt_ it with her own hands. It was one of the largest that decorated the older demon's flesh. If he'd accepted her offer that meant that some other being would have been responsible for leaving a different mark in the same place, some terrible beast that threatened Rin for power. Not her. If that had been the case she wouldn't have been stuck to wonder how many more of those wounds had been—would be—her own handiwork.

"Oh?" Kagome finally brought herself to peek at his disheveled face when he scoffed. Sesshoumaru wasn't looking at her, but at the dully glowing sliver of the waning moon perched high in the otherwise starless sky. The corners of his eyes were pinched in discomfort. "What intelligent reason did you have for ignoring the Kitsune instinct for so long?"

"I wasn't _ignoring_ them... Not totally, at least. I was _tempering_ them." Saying it out loud, it sounded more like a half-assed excuse than the truth. "It's been months. I thought I was doing pretty good—"

"Tempering those instincts will take thousands of years to master. That is true for all of the longevous breeds. Until then, I suggest you learn to accept and placate them accordingly. I will not take responsibility if your conscious is devoured by your inner beast."

Well, when he put it that way it sounded way worse than just losing control every once and a while. Could she really lose herself completely? How close had she already flirted with the point of no return?

"It's not like I have many people to turn to back in Edo." The demoness admitted. The people that lived in the village tiptoed when she was near. Some of the men gazed after her in a stew of sinful lust, disgust, and fear. More than a few women watched her like a predator about to steal the souls or eat the hearts of their husbands. "And the villagers are all..."

All what?

Human? Powerless? The train of thought left a bitter taste as she clenched her jaw.

It was odd, how easy it was to slip into that way of thinking when she was so much stronger than those that did nothing to hide their disdain. The concept of 'us' and 'them' had grown a sizable gap since they'd joined forces with Sesshoumaru. Kagome hoped that it was only a consequence of the era and her frustrations with how easily the villagers had turned on someone who had once been their hero and not a sign that she was turning into the type of bully that Inuyasha's half brother had been when they first met.

There was no way that would ever happen. Her life and experiences as a human had been too valuable to ever turn on that race.

But she really would have been stupid if she didn't acknowledge and respect the differences in power if she wanted to keep from hurting anybody.

Kagome chose a neutral word.

"Delicate. Besides, who's to say I won't lose it again and hurt the person that I do... get together with?"

"Then find one strong enough to handle you." He suggested like it was the most obvious answer. Like she could just go down to the hardware store and pick out the right wattage companion.

The priestess held back her own scoff, conscious of her broken rib and followed the maroon stripes on the arm still binding her wrists to distract from the pain. "Yeah, sure. Let me get right on that. There's no open portal to the demon realm, so I can't contact Koga of the others."

 _That_ had been eating at her for a while.

There was a ticking clock on Koga's life and no way for her to save him yet. The familiar yearning to control the Jewel's portal tried to spark. She refused to believe that it was a single-use ability. None of her previous attempts had managed to bring the same heat to the dormant stone—not that she was obsessing on the Shikon no Tama, honest, she was focused on learning the basics like a good little student.

Mostly.

She had trouble putting that one on the back-burner.

"—And I can't keep being the third wheel in Sango's relationship. I obviously need more than what they can give me. Miroku _might_ be the strongest human I know, spiritually at least—I'm pretty sure that Sango is the physically stronger of the two right now—but even he wasn't—"

Kagome's ranting froze over solid.

There was still another option that she'd been avoiding.

"You don't..." She tensed, ignoring the sever discomfort that spread through her. In the very depths of her subconscious the vixen checked 'fall from sixty stories' off her bucket list and noted to never try it again.

The air was a thick medicine as she forced a long, stabilizing breath. "You don't mean _you._ Do you, Lord Sesshoumaru?" The Fox had taken to using the honorific only when she was trying not to step in the Dog's toes. It'd become too awkward referring to him as 'Lord' when they interacted so casually on a daily basis. Eventually he even seemed to stop being so annoyed by the familiarity.

When he didn't reply right away Kagome chuckled and corrected herself. "No, that'd be ridiculous."

"Would it?" She could practically hear the raised eyebrow in the intonation. "I already use _you_ for my own gains."

He was using her?

The vixen gaped up at him, lips parted in confusion until she remembered something that the future Sesshoumaru had told her.

" _To deny yourself passion is like denying a Dog battle."_

"Those sparing matches." She whisper-yelled. "You've been feeding your fighting instinct this whole time."

He shrugged it off "The opportunity was there to take advantage of. I took it." For the first time the demon Lord looked down to meet her wide eyes. The wild amber of his irises glowed, but the look wasn't particularly intense. Granted, it wasn't gentle either. It weighed her. "Will you?"

Kagome didn't fight the grin that pulled her lips tight.

"Rin is safe when I'm subdued, right?" His attention drifted to the child that clung to his armless sleeve in her sleep and that time his eyes really did soften. In the long months that She'd been traveling with his rag-tag pack, the priestess had only seen him drop his guard like that a handful of times. It always stole her breath. "You're so predictable."

She didn't leave him any time to reply to that.

"So what exactly are you suggesting? This... trade agreement? I'll keep sparring with you and you'll let me... I mean..." The Kitsune wondered if the blood that was undoubtedly on her face disguised the flush of her cheeks. Her teeth clicked shut. She was desperate to turn away but unable to move. "You'll allow _this."_ She said at last.

"Until when?"

"Until our needs are otherwise met."

"I don't know if I'm ready to date anyone, _especially_ not you—not that you're _not_ a great guy or anything. You're just really head-strong, and that's a bit much to handle all at once. I mean, in your own way—"

His grip on her wrists tightened. Kagome winced when he pulled her arms up to get a better look at her flustered face. She met his scrutiny with the strongest gaze that she could manage in that state. The Fox and the Hound both worn and weary from their dance with death.

"Do not misunderstand." The Inu said in a bored tone, but a spark in his eyes belied his amusement. "I have no intentions to take you as my mate."

She couldn't help her relieved laugh, breathy and low. "I'm not worried about that." So they were on the same page. "Strictly business, then."

No strings attached.

As fer as she knew, the future Sesshoumaru had never taken a mate. But that didn't mean that his existence was destined to be lonely. It seemed that she fit in there, somehow. Even if it was only a temporary arrangement.

"Do you mind if..." Kagome hesitated before realizing how silly it was for her to be anything but straightforward at that point in their conversation. "Could you let go? My arms are going numb."

He released her wrists but didn't remove his arm. Instead he let it drape to rest on his abdomen, trapping her. Not that she was in the position to leave, anyway. The priestess strained her stiff neck to make sure that he caught the grateful smile on her face and in her eyes. She let her fingers lay delicately against his arm, the touch ironed her nerves with it's influence on her Kitsune oxytocin levels. "I really appreciate the offer, Lord Sesshoumaru."

The dog looked away smoothly to stare off to the moon like a space-cadet, seemingly unfazed. But Kagome had seen the discomfort that tugged at his lips before it was smothered by his icy mask of indifference.

So. It was genuine gratitude that made him uneasy, was it?

The mischievous older fox accepted the challenge of making him squirm before she turned her head and pressed her nose against his bicep, close to his scent, as Shippo often did when he was too thankful for words.

Instead of the stiffening that she'd expected, his chest rumbled once more with a deep, rich tone. Too low for human hearing, but the vibrating baritone of a brass instrument to her animalistic ears.

it's approval felt reassuring.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

"I don't want him to hurt you, Kagome. It's _Lord Sesshoumaru._ You're the one who used to say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. You shouldn't get attached." The ex-demon slayer said as she handed the second toddler to the demoness.

"It's not like that at all, Sango. You worry to much." Kagome took the gibbering Matsuko and seated her on her thigh opposite Tsuru, the quieter of the fraternal twins. The Kitsune twirled one of Tsuru's downy ringlets around her pinkie finger. It was so thin compared to her sister's wheat-straight hair. "I know he's using me, he told me himself. But I'm using him just as much." She pressed the heads of the toddlers together so that all four of their ears were covered and they couldn't overhear what she was about to say next. They giggled and chortled like it was the funniest game. "We're not even having sex."

Miroku looked over the back of the tall chestnut mare he was reigning to the wagon. Bluntness was nothing new for Kagome, but the direct subject matter was. The Kitsune had the idea that if she spoke more openly about her private affairs, then she would eventually be desensitized by the embarrassment it brought her.

She was a _Fox_ after all, and it was no secret that Foxes were carnal beings.

The Priestess cleared her throat and continued, eyes fixed on the horse's hooves instead of the rock of a woman looming before her. "I'm not saying it won't come to that. If it does, I won't fool myself into believing that he'll fall in love with me. I'm not a hopeless romantic teenager anymore."

Sango softened a fraction. She tried to make her voice sound sympathetic, but her disdain for the Western Lord was an underlying ghost pepper. "It's not that I don't trust your judgment, Kagome. I don't trust _him._ He's too unpredictable."

Was he, though?

He seemed more predictable than ever. At least, to Kagome. She was beginning to see through his bravado and posturing more and more as she walked by his side as a member of his pseudo-pack. He certainly wasn't a gentle being, but he wasn't the devil of a bastard that Inuyasha had made him out to be, either. Kagome hoped that her human sister-figure would come to see past his temporary abandonment of Rin, something that he silently regretted.

Miroku stepped behind his wife and wound his arm around to rest on her stomach, his lips brushed against her ear. She blushed, but didn't make to push him away. Public displays of affection were fairly taboo in that Era, but they were close enough with Kagome and the future culture that rubbed off from her that it wasn't even something they thought about anymore.

"And you never will trust him, my dear." The Monk spoke breezily. "He rubs you the wrong way and you'll never get over it. It's further proof that he is evil incarnate and undeserving of our darling Rin and lovely Kagome."

She huffed. "You bet your ass he's undeserving." Her sternness continued when she addressed her Miko friend. "If _you_ are comfortable with the arrangement, Kagome, and you don't feel threatened in any way, I will respect your decisions. But so help me, if he makes you feel anything less than safe and cherished, I will come out of retirement and hunt him down." The words lost fifty pounds when they'd divulged into the gentle teasing voice that she used exclusively with the twins. The mom leaned in to rub noses with Tsuyu and gushed. "Yes, Mama will kill the mean demon and save the day."

The toddler squeaked with delight and replied "Mama!" to the most important word that she recognized.

Sango beamed brighter than a stadium floodlight.

"Mamama." The fierce warrior burbled back, striking fear into the hearts of rogue demons everywhere. Matsuko was too busy balanced on Kagome's lap and grabbing clumsy fists at the tall flicking fox ears to miss the attention.

Kagome laughed and supported the adventitious little one's bottom. " _'Cherished'_ is a stretch. He tolerates me at best." She flinched when the babe tugged a decent collection of black fur from her lobe. "You'll be the first to know if he decided to kill me again. Now you two get going while these two are in such a great mood. If I'm lucky, they won't cry more than a few minutes."

Sango looked skeptical for a moment before standing back up to heft one final traveling bag onto the borrowed wagon. She took a few deep, reassured breaths—she was going to be away from the girls for no more than two days, it wasn't the end of the world—before climbing onto the bench, next to where the old nekomanta was sleeping. The cat slept a lot those days, when she wasn't being chased by tiny feet and prodded by pudgy fingers.

"If you need anything, Miss. Chiyo should be available. She loves the girls. She's still a wet nurse, just in case they won't eat for you. It's just an inventory run, it won't take long." The Taijia said with a warm smile before turning to busy herself by double checking that the tradeable goods in their load were safe and secure. The apothecary was a booming business, but keeping it stocked was a two person job.

Miroku bent down to kiss each of his daughters on the forehead. The priestess didn't bother swatting him away when he included her as one of his girls. "You're nervous." He whispered where his wife could not overhear. He didn't mean about watching the girl's for Sango's first extended trip away. The monk was talking about Sesshoumaru.

"I'm rusty." Kagome admitted.

The once Monk hummed sympathetically. "Take a breath, enjoy yourself and be safe." He said, sharing his wisdom like a true man of the cloth sharing the secrets to a happy life.

"Show him that you're not just any submissive woman willing to fall at his feet. He won't know what to make of you, and you will have the upper hand."

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

They'd been walking _forever_.

It had to have been their third day straight, at least, through the week-old battle fields. They only ever stopped to eat and drink. Sometimes not even that! Without Kagome to mediate Sesshoumaru's grueling pace—the cranky Dog didn't understand the meaning of the word rest—or Ah-Un to ride on—Kagome had taken the dragon because of the distance—Shippo had been stuck on the ground as they journeyed to the ends of the blood-soaked, human earth.

He'd been spoiled so much by his adoptive mom. If his paws hurt, she'd carry him. If he yawned, she'd demand to stop for a while and build camp. Kagome had so easily taken to being his full time caregiver once they'd joined Sesshoumaru that he hardly had the time to miss the collaborative efforts of their shard hunting group, the Higurashi household, or the doting of the Spirit Detectives.

The little Kitsune glowered at the back of the pack leader, at the shoulders that he was forbidden from perching on.

Okay, maybe he missed Kurama a teensie bit.

Or a big bit.

Rin was right up there beside the Western Lord, trotting along with her long silver hair swaying back and forth in the breeze like a pendulum. From the back she looked like a perfect miniature version of her father, only without the fur. If they were going to follow Inu Youkai tradition, she would receive that when she came of age. She was even wearing white traveling pants that day, to top off the body-clone look.

It was a little unnerving.

Despite being barely older than him, proportionally, she had more than twice his stamina. The kit was envious and, at times like those when they were going to continue walking for _who knew_ how long, he was even a smidgen bitter.

Distracted, Shippo didn't notice the sharp edge of the discarded battlefield litter until he'd already stepped on it.

A sharp intake of breath, but he wouldn't let himself cry around the Alpha.

Taking the time to check out the blemish on the pad of his paw meant asking Lord Sesshoumaru to stop, and Shippo didn't like needlessly getting that demon's attention when Kagome wasn't around if he could help it. So he continued on with a brave face, favoring the right leg and counting every tree that he saw to keep his mind occupied.

Up ahead of him fifteen paces, the Inu pup paused. Her head tilted up to scent the wind. When she looked back at him the Kitsune straightened like a wooden soldier. Without so much as a word, Rin padded back to him. She flipped her hair over one shoulder, arms crossed behind her back.

Shippo stared open mouthed at her bare neck, aghast.

When he didn't hop on right away, the little girl peered over at him with her piercing bronze eyes. It was really just the color that made them look piercing, they were actually quite concerned.

"You cut your foot, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "I'll carry you."

A sparrow built a nest in his throat. Shippo surreptitiously glanced at Lord Sesshoumaru, who'd stopped to wait for them. The larger Dog demon gave him an assessing one-over before tilting his head skyward and turning away.

Permission.

"O-okay." The Fox stuttered.

Rin was too small for him to ride on her shoulder, but the was the perfect size for a piggyback ride. Her pine tree scent filled his nose when he wrapped his arms around her neck. Stray strands of silver hair tickled his cheek.

She smelled sorta nice up close, he noted with embarrassment. You know, for a Dog.

And for a _girl._

Shippo blushed. He was really glad that she couldn't see his face. He was even more glad that the Western Lord had continued ignoring the two of them.

Later, he would apologize for getting her crisp whites dirty. But right then the little boy let himself close his eyes and enjoy the ride.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

"Shoot!"

"Shoot!"

"Shoot!"

After the third chorus, Shippo grinned up at Sesshoumaru. "You lost again, Lord Sesshoumaru. So you gotta get the firewood." The kit was giddy to get out of the chore once more. "You're _really_ bad at Rock, Paper, Scissors."

"You _do_ lose a lot, Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin mentioned, stating the fact like an oddity.

Jaken squawked indecipherably before starting on a rant in defense of his Lord's honor, citing the happenstantial nature of the foolish human game. Meanwhile, the Inu Youkai stared at the closed 'rock' of his fist thoughtfully.

After a brief moment, resigned himself to the task and started into the forest.

"I can help him with the wood." Kagome offered, brushing pine needles from her skirt. She followed after the tall Dog demon, but turned to walk backwards a few paces to address the small ones. "If you kids can help Master Jaken set up camp? I saw some good stones for the pit down by the brook."

Shippo jumped up and pulled Kuwabara's old satchel over his shoulder—they'd already patched one hole that he'd worn through, it probably wouldn't last another year or two. Rin made sure that their meager traveling possessions were tucked close to the two headed dragon.

"Don't get the wet ones, okay?" The pup told the kit as they strolled away. "If they have water in them, they can explode in the fire."

"Seriously!?" He hyped. "Can we try that sometime?"

The imp followed the two diligently.

Deep in the forest it was hot and sticky despite the shade. The last of cicadas cried their trill songs before they too would bed down to hide from the cool of night soon to come.

Five years prior, she would have never considered the Western Lord an ally.

Two years prior, she would have never been okay with being alone with him.

Five months prior, she would never have touched him unless the situation demanded it.

Two weeks prior, she would have never considered kissing him.

Bark dug sharp into her back and the sticks that she had been mindlessly collecting on the walk clattered to the ground. His skin was warm and firm, blemished with the puckered scar; wide and jagged. The pads of her fingers roamed and explored the mountains and valleys of his human form.

When she pushed, he altruistically obliged.

The gentle flutter of her lips left roses on his neck. When he kissed back, pulling the back of her neck closer to him until they had merged into a singular being, she matched his control. Her deceptively delicate leg wrapped around him, holding him in place. There was an appreciative hum between them.

The Miko's aura surged to the surface when he slid his hand slid up her skirt to graze her thigh with gentle claws. Every touch, every movement sent magnesium sparks tingling across the landscape of her skin.

She would have _never_ been so forward prior to her return to the past.

Eyes closed, Kagome broke away to press a closed smile against his hungry lips.

"Why do I get the feeling that you aren't actually bad at Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

She could feel the quirk of his mouth as he smirked.

"You throw very slow. It is easy to predict." The demoness was forced to look up at him when he angled her head up with a curled knuckle. "If there was no benefit in failure, you would be unable to best my strategy."

Her laughter filled the forest as she pushed his towering body away and reclaimed the branches at her feet.

"You need to win more often. They're going to start getting suspicious." She scolded him. "Nobody's _that_ bad at a game of chance."

" _You_ are quite bad at the game."

"I'm just as bad as any normal person should be! It's probability, Sesshoumaru! Not a competition."

The Priestess huffed, pressed her collection of sticks into his chest for him to carry and led them to complete their original task of finding substance for the fire. Sesshoumaru followed her lead without complaint, amused and thoroughly satisfied.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

There were other demons like Sesshoumaru and herself that had stayed behind in the human realm, that have refused to transition to the Demon Realm after the splitting of the worlds for one reason or another. There were very few and as the second year passed, becoming even fewer. Human soldiers and villagers alike went out of their way to destroy any straggling beasts they could get their hands on. They didn't care to hear out the demons' stories or reasons for staying, they cared even less if Hanyou children were involved. All monsters were evil and needed to be eliminated.

Kagome made sure that their group played it safe, she'd even convinced Sesshoumaru to don an occasional human Glamour to avoid unnecessary confrontation. She vowed to help any innocent demons under persecution that they came across. Unfortunately, they were usually far too late to be of any assistance.

So when the lynch-mob screams caught her ear, demanding the demon at the village outskirts be killed, the priestess jumped into action.

The source of the commotion was easy enough to find; dozens of farmers crowded around in a circle with iron hoes and rakes held high, eager to get a piece of the action. "It fell from the sky!" They cried. "The harvest goddess will praise us with a bounty if we kill it!" They justified.

They shoved and pressed to get a rare look at the demon, the likes of which their village probably hadn't seen in a year. Kagome started pushing her way through the farming men as they edged closer, eager to attack. The first blow was thrown, a heavy tool made a dull thud against flesh. A woman's shrill voice screamed out in defiance and pain.

The Glamoured Kitsune broke through the human barrier and froze at what she saw.

A battered Sparrow kneeled panting and bleeding at the center, one brown wing sprawled out around her at the wrong angle. Her other was tucked close to her body, shielding something close. _Someone_ close.

A plume of black feathers gave the small child away.

The red of the mother demoness' normally obsidian irises didn't bode well for anyone there.

So Kagome acted first.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

 **Chapter Three: End**


	4. Sparrow and Hawk

**Chapter Four: Sparrow and Hawk**

 **Edo Period, The Western Territories**

"It was total luck that I ran into you two. We were done with this village, but the kids wanted me to grab some goodies before we left." Kagome filled the silence as she helped the Sparrow back to the campsite.

The bird had been too stunned to protest after her unexpected rescue.

The Kitsune had given her true identity away by shedding her glamour and brandishing her claws and fangs. She felt silly—like some vampire cosplayer hissing at strangers—but it got the job done. At the first sight of her most of the farmers had fled, dropping their tools the ground and screaming mercies. The more stubborn fools that stood to face her followed suit shortly after, spooked as they gripped at the bruises and shallow scrapes she'd given them in their brief scuffle. Attacking a half-dead bird was one thing, but going toe to toe with a full powered _fox_ was certain suicide. Little did they know she had postured more than anything and was no true threat to their lives.

Once she whisked the Tori Youkai and her fledgling to the safety of the treeline, Kagome offered her shoulder for support. It was a gesture that the young mother had taken reluctantly.

Kagome's grip at her waist tightened when she adjusted.

"I found this great taiyaki stand, the tea house next to it had the cutest little cherry blossom mochi , and—" There was a falter in her step that kept her from pitching forward as she tripped over her careless realization. " _And_ I dropped them! Of course I did! No! There's _no way_ I can go back now! Everyone there will be super on edge with strangers, no matter who I pretend to be! Now that they know _I'm_ in the area. Maybe if I hadn't made such a crazy scene..."

She groaned and raked the her offendingly empty hand through her hair.

A head of black feathers caught her peripheral vision. The Miko peeked up through her lashes at the little boy tucked safely under his mother's own loose, mousy brown hair. She smiled when he dropped the curtain of locks to hide himself once more. He was tiny, maybe three or four centimeters shorted than Shippo, with amusingly small feather-speckled nubs that would eventually grow to be the grand hawk wings that the Kitsune had seen him hold high and proud in the future as he mounted his Oiseau and rode off with Rin.

The boy that would become Rin's mate.

"I shouldn't worry. They'll no doubt be too distracted to even notice that the snacks are missing. We met with a Ryuu at the beginning of the summer—he's protecting his clan's ancestral burial ground from the locals until it's safe and forgotten. But it's been ages since Rin and Shippo met someone their own age."

Ah-Un greeted the fox with a pleased huff from it's left head when they arrived in the otherwise empty clearing. Kagome lowered the bird near the fire pit, embers still hot from the morning's meal. Her official medical supplies from the future were growing thin, most of them wasted on Sesshoumaru and herself after bouts of training gone wrong. Still, she found enough gauze material to wrap a broken wing and bandages to plaster the deeper cuts.

The priestess figured that it was best not to spook the demoness with her Miko powers right off the bat, so she settled for good old fashioned first aid. She knelt behind the injured woman and gently pressed her fingers to the base of the appendage. The fledgling scrambled to occupy his mother's lap and avoid Kagome at all costs.

"This will probably hurt a lot." The priestess warned. "I'm sorry in advance."

She didn't bother to worry if her concern came across as too human. Didn't care if it was totally weird to bandage up a demonic stranger with compassion. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd done it and she wasn't about to stop. Following her own moral code was more important than playing the game of culture clash.

Shizume's shoulder blades stiffened. The Kitsune counted the seconds and held her breath before she delicately lifted the heavy wing into place like moving a wet canvas. Clawed hands dug grooved into the dirt.

The quiet only lasted a few minutes.

"Why aid us?" The woman that Kagome knew would one day become Sesshoumaru's most trusted general asked with a gasp. It was the first time she'd spoken since Kagome heard her scream. Her voice was softer than expected. "I'm injured. My presence will do nothing but burden your travels."

The Fox's laugh came out a sharp bark.

"If I turned away every injured being I've ever met, I wouldn't have any friends." She took extra care setting the break, but cringed when the Sparrow let out a startled cry.

Shizume wasn't yet the stoic fighter that she would become. The once-human girl sympathized.

"I'm helping you _because_ you're hurt. I couldn't just leave you there, it wouldn't have been right. I don't care what's in their blood, nobody should take an innocent life." Kagome scowled. "You have every right and reason to live. Your little one needs you alive."

Uninjured wing furled, tense and intimidating in it's size and muscular structure but the woman's body shook with pain, not anger. Soon Kagome could smell the salt of the demoness' tears as they slid down her thin face. She brushed them away with the torn sleeve of her patchwork haori before they could fall into the spiked feathers that made up the child Toru's hair.

Kagome's ears flattened against the top of her head.

"Is it too tight? That's my bad. I've never wrapped a wing before, I can try again!"

"Not... that. It's perfect." Shizume made out between her small gulps for air. She folded herself over top of the little boy in a self-deprecating shell of a bow, almost pulling the strip of cloth from the Kitsune's grip. "I owe you my lif—"

Kagome interrupted her with a stern tug. "No, no, no. You don't." She scolded and pulled the woman back upright by the shoulder.

A sob tore through Shizume.

"I was ready to give up... My willpower wasn't strong enough."

Talk about turning the tables.

The wrap was tied off and the priestess sat back on her heels and watched the lady's back in silence as she cried. Kagome busied herself with primping and grooming the down, smoothing away frays and debris. She took care not to overstep.

Idly, the time-traveler wondered just how drastically her little stunt had changed the future.

The wolf, Kumiko, was supposed to be the one to save Shizume's life, not her. As much as she hated stealing the spotlight from the Ookami and altering the evolution of bonds and friendships, the event gave Kagome hope. The future _could_ be changed. That meant she would be able to fix the wrongs with Kagami that she hadn't committed yet. He didn't have to become her enemy, not if she could help it.

If she could avoid any confrontation at all, she would.

That meant keeping her friends safe in the future.

And in the _present_.

Kagome's tall ears perked at a rustle. When the kids came bounding into the camp she had to herd them away from the birds so that Shizume had the space and time to put her pieces back together. Rin caught on to the situation quickly and went to sit quietly and discreetly among their bags by the two headed dragon. Shippo took longer to settle.

Her efforts were in vain, however, when Sesshoumaru's tall figure stepped from beyond the trees and into the light of the open clearing in his usual unimpressed manor. He didn't look her way once as he stalked over to the Tori and child.

His presence disturbed ripples in the pond. He was peeved. The Dog took advantage of how easily she associated with strangers in the villages, but it was a different story when those strangers were demons that Kagome brought within the barrier of their camp like little lost animals.

"Sesshoumaru, wait!" She tried to call.

The name echoed against ancient pine trees for the breath of a moment as their injured company took in just who she was looking at.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Shizume fumbled to her feet, a little off balance without the equilibrium of both wings. She winced but her eyes were wide with shock, making her look as if she were fighting off a sneeze. A bow was quick to hide it.

She reigned in her shock and stood with courtly humbleness. "My apologies for this intrusion, your lordship. I am known as Shizume." She introduced herself. "My mate was the first commanding officer to Lord Horitomo."

Eyebrow arched high, Sesshoumaru hummed a contemplative sound, reappraising the situation.

"One of the Great Generals, the four Lords." He provided Kagome without prompt before she could ask who Horitomo was. "An ally to the East. My father spoke highly of your Mate's potential as a marksman."

"You honor mine, good Lord. The Late Inu no Taisho's favor shone strongly of your Father's just spirit."

"Hm. Despite countless offers, that Hawk never betrayed Horitomo's confidence. He is unwavering in his loyalties."

Kagome's brows knitted at the rally. Was he genuinely praising the man, or was he only speaking in accordance to social obligation? That was a side of him that she'd rarely seen in their three years of travels and even less understood.

There'd been no need for her to learn the etiquette of a dead court.

A shadow passed over the sparrow's already dark eyes. Her lips formed a grim line that belonged to her future self. It aged her tremendously. "Yes, he was."

Even though the Kitsune had known that the man had been killed after the separation, hearing it from Shizume while her wounds were still fresh made her breath hitch high in her throat.

Sesshoumaru gave her pause.

"I see. My condolences."

"Your..." The Sparrow looked over at Kagome, evaluating, as if she were really seeing her for the first time.

"Kagome." The Priestess supplied.

Shippo pulled away from his mother figure's hold to claim his rightful spot atop her shoulder where he had a front ticket seat to watch the scene unfold. He eyed Toru with wide, unabashed curiosity.

"Kagome." The Tori rolled the name, tasting it on her tongue. "She saved my life." Her next bow was deeper, she spoke to the rocks at her toes. "I offer my life and service to repay that debt. I do humbly hope that you accept." Had they been on floorboards she would have been nose to the wood.

Scrambling back to where Sesshoumaru stood over Shizume, the priestess leaned forward to place her hands on the woman's broad, bony shoulders. The Bird met her pinning look with shock. Toru's grip on his mother's calf tightened and he buried his face into the dark green fabric of her hakama.

"I didn't save you so that you could be our servant!" Her voice dropped low. "I did it so you can live happy and _free_. If you want to be myfriend, that's one thing. But I don't want you stressing because you think you owe me something."

Shizume looked up at the Inu Youkai in confusion and searched his face for direction. The vixen wasn't at all acting in accordance to the protocol and regulations expected within the presence of members of the courts. Her life walking demurely in the shadow of her mate, dancing with words and subtly had not prepared her for such a situation. Even without the anarchy of the past five years having muddled her perspective with distrust she would have had trouble believing that one of the Cardinal Lords could ally himself with such a brisk—no— _flamboyant_ fox.

The priestess followed the demoness' onyx eyes to the Dog.

Sesshoumaru let out a deep breath and looked into the trees to avoid their collective gazes.

Eventually he took a step back and turned away from them dismissively.

When he spoke his words were only the barest bit quieter than they had been when he first addressed her. "The Western Lands are no longer under my dominion." It was an admission that he rarely spoke out loud, even though it was a fact that they were all aware of. "The courts as we knew them have been abolished. Neither Kagome nor myself will hold you to any self inflicted bounden duty."

Shizume deflated.

She went back and forth between the pair hesitantly before lowering her head. Unsure of herself and her place.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

"You don't have to sit here with us, Toru. You can go swim with Shippo and Rin. I'm sure they'll let you join."

Toru stared at her without response.

In the short days that Shizume had been with their group, the little boy hadn't left his mother's side for more than a moment. He hadn't smiled, spoken, or otherwise given the Miko any indication that he was aware of anything happening beyond his immediate radius.

He sat pulled tight against the curve of his mother's waist. His bare feet curled in the hot, bone-white sand of the small and isolated beach that they'd found for the day's reprieve. Kagome didn't need to be a child psychologist to see that he'd been traumatized by their years on the run and the death of his father. She didn't try to push him.

All she could do was offer her unconditioned support and hope that, over time, he'd let them in.

Shizume brushed his cheek and he looked up at her with mute expectancy.

"It is alright, feather of my heart." She soothed the air between them. "There are so many shells in this sand. Will you find for me one that shimmers as the water does in the sun?"

Reluctantly, the boy nodded and took to the task after extracting himself from the adhesive that kept him bound to his mother. He didn't wander far at first, not until he was absolutely sure that none of the shells closest to them satisfied the requirements. Soon enough he was right up to the water's edge, scouring the ground with the intensity of, well, a hawk.

A teeny tiny hawk with stubby little legs and dingy little wings.

Kagome watched Shippo splash his way to the shore, eager to help. Toru spooked and scuttled away, a hermit crab avoiding capture.

The older bird beside her spoke, drawing the Kitsune's attention away from the kids. "If I may ask; what is your goal in this new life?"

The priestess tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You did not follow the countless others to the Demon's World to make a name for yourself. Yet you stand beside a Cardinal Lord as his equal without land or title. You wander and you train. You support the human Tokugawa as a ghost, yet your ultimate goal remains a mystery. To what purpose are you striving?"

"Oh." Kagome breathed.

She hadn't thought about that. Her purpose for returning to the past was to discover herself, to grow stronger with the intent of facing Kagami in the future—if she even had to fight him. But what did she desire beyond that? What did _she_ want out of the life she'd been given?

"Well," The Miko said after mulling it over in the high noon sun. "I don't really have an 'end goal.' Surely most people don't, right? I just want to survive, really."

Kagome looked over to where Rin was presenting Toru with the shells that she had collected to see if they met his quality benchmark. The little fox kit was elbows deep in the waves, pulling up everything that he could grasp with his furred toes and egging on Jaken on the shoreline to get his feet wet and help. The imp squawked his protests of the salty water. He was a _fresh water_ imp, ocean water was rough to his delicate complexion, obviously.

"Actually, no. More than that." She amended. "I want to create a place where _they_ will always be safe. Where they can be free to laugh, to learn and enjoy all that life has to offer them without the threat of violence or need for Glamours. Neither Realm has a place like that right now. I think I want to help build one."

Shizume hummed and rested forward with her arms crossing her knees. She watched the children. Her son avoided looking at the Inu pup, skittish and displaced.

"That seems an impossible dream."

Kagome grinned. "Probably. But it will never be anything more than that unless we try."

The Tori froze. She was too sharp at reading between the lines. "We?"

Kagome's ear flicked as she stroked the hairs of the black tail sprawled across her lap.

She hadn't told either Shizume or Sesshoumaru about the Birds' lives in the future at the compound. The Dog General knew that she was from a distant era, but much to her gratitude he never questioned her about it. There was no telling what information would be too much for anybody to know. Sango and Miroku knew the most of her time spent with the Detectives, but even those stories were censored to a degree.

She was the future's card dealer, so Kagome had to chose her word's with care to not give anything away.

"You're welcome to stay with us, long term. I mean, if you want. There's safety in numbers and I'd like to get to know you better. The kids will always have company. And when the time comes, maybe we can change the world." Giddiness took root in her chest when she thought of how childlike that must have sounded. But she didn't want her intentions to come across as anything less than wholesome.

"Thank you, but I must decline." Shizume said gravely.

An "oh," escaped Kagome in a disheartened breath when she looked over at the woman with a pout. Shizume didn't meet her gaze, instead she focused on the tiny spiral shells in the sand cupped in her hand.

"I will be looking to leave once before the week's end. I have no place here and it would be improper of me to force my burden on your pack. Although, I do so appreciate your hospitality. I owe—I thank you, for that."

Despite the words she spoke on the beach that day, the bird never did leave their party for very long. It had only taken three short weeks until she'd ultimately found her way back to Kagome's standing invitation. She had decided to help the Kitsune fulfill that hopeless endeavor of a peaceful world to repay the life debt that she couldn't seem to brush under the rug so easily.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

"So, are you even able to talk or what? What's the deal with that?"

"How can you even ask that!?" Rin said with an indignant squawk that made her sound an awful lot like their green nursemaid. "It's rude!"

The little fox didn't look up at her as he plopped an acorn onto an empty stick-framed square of their impromptu tic-tac-toe board and crossed his arms. "Well, it's bit like anyone else was gonna bring it up.: He squirmed under her shrewd stare but plowed forward. "They've been with us for like a month now. Have _you_ ever heard him say anything?"

She ruffled like a grouse. "Even if I haven't, that doesn't mean that he isn't able to." The Inu pup set her flat stones to the side, unable to continue their game, and glanced at the smaller boy sitting silent beside them. Toru certainly looked old enough to be able to speak. Rin flipped her braid over her shoulder to twist the end and stared flatly back at Shippo. "Maybe he doesn't have anything to say. Not all of us need to hear our own voice every minute."

Shippo's face warmed, his cheeks glowed brighter than the auburn of his hair. "You're one to talk! And talk, and talk and _talk_!" He jumped to his feet to get the upper ground, but that only succeeded in making him eye level with the kneeling girl. "You ask more questions than I do!"

"At least I know when _not_ to ask questions." She bit back.

Ne nudged the dirt beneath his paws, but held himself back from kicking away the pieces of their game like he wanted to.

"Oh, come on." The kit eventually glowered at his friend. There was no wire in it. "I waited!" He wined. "It's been weeks!"Actually, he'd been very good about that. His time spent with Kagome in the future when she was at her lowest had prepped him for treating those lost within themselves with tender patience and sympathy. But it felt crawly and weird doing that with Toru. He wasn't a brooding adult, he was just a little kid like him and Rin, no matter how much she pretended to act all mature and mighty. Shippo wanted to get to know the boy and play games with him—they finally had enough people to double dutch like the kids he'd seen in Tokyo!—but that was hard to do on tiptoes with an unreceptive hawk.

Rin sighed.

"You shouldn't rush him. He's been through a lot." She turned to address Toru, feeling bad for talking about him as if he wasn't sitting in their circle, watching them with trepidation. Waiting for them to attack. "Everything is very different than what you were used to." She said, channeling Kagome's kindness. "Take your time adjusting."

Abruptly Rin stood and brushed the dirt from her legs. An idea reverberated in her mind.

"Wait a sec?" She said without really asking before she marched across the clearing to where Kagome stood between the two taller demons.

The boys watched her without so much as a peep Shippo couldn't take the nerve eating silence any longer.

"You lived in that big demon city in the East, right? I bet you'd never been camping before—well, before the Jewel made the barrier. But that's way different! Camping is something you do with a a bunch of friends because you _want_ to, not because you _have_ to. We can ask Ma to take us sometime, yeah? There's this really nice pond that she likes that's super pretty in the fall..."

Shippo was grateful when Rin returned just then, cutting off his train wreck of a monologue.

Holding out two brightly colored skewered orbs towards the Toru she said "Here, pick a color."

The tiny bird eyed her suspiciously.

"It's candy." The Inu Youkai reassured him. "They're called lollipops."

Kagome saved them for special occasions and there was only half of a bag left, but Rin knew that they were just the thing the situation called for. With a poke and a prod, Toru eventually chose the purple over the highlighter green one. The fox hovered over the transaction as she taught to fledgling how to unwrap it too.

"Can I have the other one?" Shippo asked. Greedy lips were licked.

With a shrug the silver haired girl pulled off her own wrapper and plopped the sweet onto her tongue. She smiled, all innocence and flowers. "Sorry, you'll have to ask Kagome for another one."

He gaped at her, slackjawed with disbelief and rejection before settling into a nettled grimace. "You shoulda just gotten three." It was a barely audible grumble under his breath when he got up and brushed past her.

When the Kitsune was away, Rin sobered.

"They're sweet." She explained to Toru, twirling the pop between delicately clawed fingers. "So sweet that they hurt at first. Especially the first time. Your tongue stings and you don't think that you;ll ever be able to taste anything again. But then your mouth adjusts. The flavors calm down and it becomes fruity and delicious. You still remember the pain, but that makes it taste even better when it changes."

Obsidian irises searched her face for a lie or fib, unsure if the sugar stick would really be with the journey. Was it worth the reward? In a leap of faith, Toru placed the lolly in his mouth and cringed.

"I'm sorry about your father." Rin said before the twist of his face had time to smooth.

There it was.

The elephant that they'd left untouched for weeks.

He stared past her, still as a Buddha statue and puckered with overwhelmed taste buds. His eyes pricked with the tears that he'd kept tight under lock and key. When he pulled his legs to his chest Rin scooted against him, lending her supportive shoulder.

"Hey! Ma say you already have—!"

Shippo's words fell away to the wind as he bounded back towards them. His feet slowed.

Rin pulled a third lollipop from her shirtsleeve and handed it to him without comment. The kit took it without protest or complaint. He got it.

Though, he took a note to create code words with her so she didn't need to trick him next time.

"You and your mother aren't alone anymore." She let Toru know as silent but bulbous droplets rolled down his splotchy cheeks. "We'll keep you safe. We're like a family. And now you're part of that too, right Shippo?"

The Kitsune child settled down on the other side of Toru and intently examined the plastic wrapping paper protecting his candy. The red of the sunset reflected in the cellophane. Then he looked up to watch the adults as they discussed the plan for the next day's travels under the low hanging sun. The tall, sharp silhouette of the sparrow didn't look at all out of place beside the co-regents of their group.

Shippo licked the pop, flushed, unwrapped it, and tried again.

"They absorbed you two." He spoke after mulling it over. "We're pack. Pack looks out for each other. You don't gotta talk if you don't wanna, but let us know when somethings wrong so we can try and fix it. You can trust us to help." The kit leaned back on his palms. "And in return, you can help me dye Jaken's clothes pink. It's a two person job, but _some_ goody-two-shoes won't ever—"

He shrieked when Rin threw one of her nearly forgotten game piece pebbles at him.

Satisfied with the lump she'd given the glowering bow, the once human pre-teen turned her attention to Toru.

"Is it a little better now?"

The Tori sniffed loudly and brushed away the tears with the back of his Yukata sleeves.

He nodded.

"...Yeah."

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

"I gotta pee!" Matsuko announced at the top of her tiny lungs as she came bounding onto the deck, hands clutching at her bottom. At nearly five years old she was plenty capable of going to the restroom by herself, but with the newest addition to the family there had been a drastic recoil in her self-sufficiency. Jealousy ran like a serpent in the veins of the temperamental tot.

"Shizume, hold him! Just a second!" The loosely swaddled baby was nearly thrown into the stunned Sparrow's arms as Sango grabbed her daughter with the grace of a linebacker and leapt from the deck to disappear behind the house.

She sat there wide eyed, staring at the tiny, infinitely delicate mortal bundle in her arms. She'd only just met the woman! She would have _never_ let another being beyond the closest of clan mates handle Toru when he was that small, let alone a—

"You look like he's going to wake up and bite you." Kagome snickered, pulling the newly installed paper screens shut behind her.

Shizume responded with a puff of a laugh so dry it could have contained dust.

"As the son of a demon slayeress and a warrior priest, he very well may."

The priestess tittered. She sat down on the deck's edge and swung down her legs where she'd left her sandals. "Thank goodness for our sakes he's so well mannered! He only bites the demons that bite first!" Standing on the ground, Kagome tapped her toe to a stepping stone to ensure that her footwear was secured. "Be right back. They're out of rice in the kitchen, I'm going to go check the shed. Do you think you can handle him?"

The Bird deadpanned. "I am capable of holding infants."

As soon as the Fox was gone, Shizume shifted the babe to get a better look at him. He looked like a balding imp, shrived with age. It was oddly endearing.

"Hello, tiny human." She formally addressed the child. Whether by the rumble of her voice or the rigidity of his position, laid straight out along her thighs, the baby boy woke. Owl-large brown eyes blinked against the late day sun and settled to stare up at her. Sleep clouded his vision, but to anyone lacking the experience of children and couldn't recognize that would have said he was glaring. "Ah," She projected with amusement. "My apologies. Tiny Tourai."

Feet kicked against her stomach as they fought the fabric confining them. Shizume unraveled the swathing to grant them freedom in the warm light.

"I doubt that you will be small for very much longer." She assessed. "You have the legs of a dancing crane."

Long and thin, still too small to have stocked up a supply of chubby baby fat.

Shizume's heart melted away a glacier that washed warmth through her blood and down to her finger tips when the infant cooed up at her. Not even a threat on her life could have kept her smile from blossoming. She was a _mother_ after all. And babies were babies, no matter the species.

When Kagome returned toting a sack of dried rice she found the Tori holding Tourai's feet up to her lips, blowing raspberries to elicit the most amusing look of shock from the boy. He was too small to laugh yet, so Shizume chuckled in his stead.

She froze when the Kitsune spoke, a thief caught in the act of stealing kisses.

"Don't... actually bite the baby, Shizume."

Humiliation painted her ears redder than a maple's leaves in the fall.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Shizume's wings shook and fluffed before she dipped them into the steaming hot water. Gently, she placed her towel on a snow dappled rock behind her and settled neck-deep into the spring. Next to her Sango let out a long, contented sigh.

Kagome's eyes were closed. She was leaned forward on a submerged boulder, her crossed arms had her head propped just high enough for her nose to breathe.

When Miroku had offered to watch the kids—He'd roped Sesshoumaru into it and bartered away the demon's freedom as well—to allow the ladies a much deserved break, they had jumped on it. It had been years since the last time his wive had been able to get away to relax and the two demonesses were just as grateful for some time to talk without the hyper-vigilant ears of their canine companion.

Did they feel guilty about leaving the two men alone with six children in their hands for a couple of days?

Not in the slightest.

Did they feel nervous about the sorts of trouble that the lot was capable of getting into?

Perhaps a little.

But the sirens song of the hot springs was quick to melt that away.

The sounds of the early winter's snowfall rustled through the forest. Crystalline icicles became sparkling chandeliers in the morning light. Each gust of wind sent them chiming, melodic tings and clacks that danced on the breeze.

A Bird's hearing wasn't particularly sensitive, especially when compared to that of a canine's, but it was so quiet that she was still able to make out the pattering of a rabbit as it dug the freshly fallen snow for the undergrowth. The Tori Youkai doubted that Sango would have heard that as clearly. She wondered what the human woman _was_ hearing. What secrets did the forest tell her? What secrets were denied by her ears?

Shizume watched Kagome, watched as the fall and rise of her chest displaced water around her in soft ripples.

The companionable silence broke when she let one of her mind's many questions fall on her tongue.

What was it like?" Her words were nearly as quiet as the snow.

Kagome's lupine ears twitched and swiveled towards the sound. Head tilted just enough for her lips to touch the cold air. "Hmm?" She hummed without opening her brilliant blues. "What was what like?"

"Being human."

That woke the priestess out of her blissful stupor. She picked her head out of the water and looked over at Sango.

The young mother shrugged. "Miroku let it slip."

"Really?" It wasn't exactly a standard topic of conversation. They hadn't been keeping the Sparrow in the dark of that little fact out of malice. It just made things easier in the beginning. Less questions, fewer conclusions to jump to out of bias. As time went on Kagome had never thought to mention it. The _what_ she was had stopped feeling as important when she'd started focusing again on _who_ she was.

"I asked." Shizume admitted. "Your mannerisms have never quite allied with your breed. I will admit that my curiosity had bested me. If I've overstepped in any way..."

"No, it's fine, I don't mind at all!" The Kitsune chewed on the question like a particularly tough rawhide. "Lots of people have asked what it's like being a demon, but you're the first to ask the other way around."

Humming again, she slipped under the water. Bubbles rose to the surface.

Sango brushed away slightering strands of the Fox's hip length black hair when it fell loose from it's oversize topknot and blossomed in the spring like an ink spill on parchment. When she surfaced and shook the water from her ears, the locks clung to her body like a cloak.

"To be honest, I couldn't have told you what it was like to be human before my transformation. I just was. You can't really describe one or the other without experiencing both. When I first learned about them, I used to think that demons were so far separated from humans—like they were from totally different planets and had nothing in common. And at first, after the jewel, I _did_ feel like I was in an alien's body. The world and everything in it felt _wrong._ But now? After I've had more than enough time to adjust? I don't feel all that different."

She worked on gathering the soaked strands of her hair to tie them into a knot at the nape of her neck.

"When you're human, changes in the weather make you sneeze all the time, the cold makes your bones feel like they've been turned to shaking pins and needles. Sickness makes it feel like you've got a melon stuffed up your nose. Forget to drink water and your head fogs up. There are a lot of little quirks that demons don't get.

"When you're human," Kagome continued, relaxed despite the intense scrutiny of her audience. "You don't notice how much weaker you are or how much shorter your life is; that's just part of living. When you do realize just how vulnerable you are as a mortal, fighting against or along side Youkai, it's frightening. You feel like fine pottery in the hands of a toddler. It's the same fear that I feel as a demon realizing that my power can overwhelm me. The frustration is the same.

"But my mind hasn't been altered, my personality is still the same. Sure, I'd probably be totally different if I'd been raised a Kitsune, but that's all a cultural difference, not an inherent one. We're more alike than we give ourselves credit for, at least in my experience."

The former demon slayer frowned.

"That's the conclusion I've come to as well." Sango said, reaching up to brush her razor straightened hair behind an ear. "It's a shame that more humans hadn't come to the same realization. With the new realm in place there won't be any opportunity for a cultural revolution to occur. Any hope of uniting humans and demons is out of reach. "

Kagome thought about the future, about the world where a barrier no longer existed between the realms. "Maybe there's still a chance. Humanity just isn't ready yet. _Neither_ side is ready yet." The Kitsune sat back deeper in the water and rested the back of her head. "If Makai can really implement Democracy, I'm sure they can form some sort of political relations with the human realm. Getting the humans on board with the concept of demons would be the tricky part..." She mused to herself under her breath.

Shizume sat listening intently as the Kitsune and her human friend spoke back and forth about different ways of introducing demons to an unsuspecting population without sparking fear. It was a confusing conversation about a hypothetical human race that had all memory of Youkai erased from their history.

Perhaps the Sparrow would have understood it better if only she'd known what 'democracy' was.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

Not very much had changed in the three years since Shizume and her son had joined the pack. Yet everything had. Things were settling into a place of comfort.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome still maintained their physical, yet strictly business, relationship behind closed doors and slips off the trail, even though the Inu Youkai's needs were being satisfied without their weekly sparring matches. He had taken to training the Sparrow—a far more difficult feat than working with the priestess, since she didn't even have the basics to hold her neck straight. He worked with her as his father had him. Mercilessly.

The battles of the mortal realm were coming to their peek. Only ten more years until the unification of Japan, not that the fighting would settle for quite some time after that. Sesshoumaru used the plentiful human skirmishes to his advantage as a training resource for both women. Right then he was out in Okayama with Shizume, not out hunting marauding Oni with a band of animals but studying the strategy of the troops converged there.

Kagome was with the children, a half a day's journey North-East in Kyoto. The city was large and modernized for the era, a prequel of the looming iron streets that she had walked with the the Kuwabaras. While she set to work looking for a place to eat, stake out the local gossip, and lodging for the night far away from the temple, she sent the children to the streets with an allowance of coin and instructions to have fun, but to be back by sunset.

After wandering the shops and streams for hours, the kids found themselves backtracking to the outskirts of the city to a quaint little shrine and tea stand that they had passed on their way in. Toru, fond of salty snacks above all else, had seen that they were selling pouches of powered kombucha—a briny seaweed based tea—that he enjoyed and wanted to buy.

Cradling the small green sachet to his chest like a love letter, The Bird and the others slowly made their way through the beaten paths of the forest back to the city center.

"Maybe I'll get some glass marbles... or a new top. A metal one! I bet they'd have one here! Iron!" Shippo shook the coins in his pouch. "Do you think I have enough for an iron top?"

Toru and Rin shared a look before glancing back at the shorter boy. Even though the boys were taller in their Glamours to mirror the proportions of human children, their real height differences—much to Shippo's chagrin—were still reflected. Over the eight years that he and Rin had been packmates, the two had barely grown four centimeters between them. However, in Toru's shorter stay he had gained nearly a head over the Fox. He had gone from being the junior most member to appearing Shippo's senior. Even though they had long before assessed that the Kitsune was in fact a whopping twelve years older.

But, unfortunately, age and maturity were not linked.

That was doubly true for the almost unpredictable growth patterns of Youkai children.

Rin, who's height wasn't affected by her dark haired Glamour, nearly rolled her eyes. "You should really think about getting a new bag. That knot isn't going to last very long."

Blunt human fingers fidgeted with the haphazardly tied strap of his messenger bag. He'd worn the thing to rags and back, took it with him everywhere he went as a reminder of his tall goofy friend in the future. It had already been so long since he'd seen Kazuma and it was only going to be forever more until they'd meet again. He didn't want to forget the guy. His bracelet had already disintegrated years ago when he hadn't taken Kagome's advice and stored it away alongside her various trinkets and gifts in her little box.

It would hurt to let it go.

"You're such a buzzkill." He responded.

Laughter lightened Toru's face with a gentle smile. "What will you buy, Rin?" He asked as they entered a denser grove of trees, hiding them from the few huts and homes that speckled the path.

"I haven't decided yet. I might just save it. I can't think of anything that I need—"

"Hansha! Now!" A voice shouted out from the trees.

The disguised Dog found herself pinned to the ground by a child slightly older than herself wearing a noh mask of a young woman. Shippo screeched as as he struggled in the arms of a younger boy in a much more menacingly horned mask. They could have looked as if they'd just come from a festival, if not for the rags they were wearing for clothing.

"What about the other one!?" The boy asked in a panic when he saw the retreating figure of Toru's back running back towards the city.

"He doesn't matter! These two will be fine! Hold him still!"

They wrestled and fought, but the street kids were stronger. The Inu pup strained as the older kid—Hansha presumably—locked her elbows behind her back. She tried calling forth her demonic power to cut the air behind her with energy like she'd been practicing, but everything was sealed behind Kagome's handiwork.

A safety feature to keep people safe while Rin was beginning to learn her own abilities.

She groaned. Why didn't the 'safety' block have an emergency pull thread!? You know: tug here in case of mugging!

The pre-teen on her back locked an arm around her throat and pulled her back. "Stay still! You need to be still for this!"

"Just knock her out, Hansha!"

Rin's head twisted to look over to Shippo, the arm around her windpipe pinched tighter. The kit lay flat on his back, eyes closed. Chest breathing? Yes. Chest breathing. Good.

If they wanted to rob them, they could have done it and been gone already. But instead if grabbing the frog shaped coin pouch that fell from Shippo's hand to the ground, the boy gripped Shippo's shoulders. He concentrated, eyes pinched tight.

"What's wrong?" Hansha asked from behind her. "You're usually so good at this."

"I don't know, it's like—wait!"

Then he began to shift. His body molded like clay as it folded in on itself, recreating and reshaping. It only took a couple heartbeats for him to change completely into Shippo's diminutive, un-Glamoured form. Tail and all.

"What!?" The fake Shippo exclaimed in wild disbelief.

The grip on Rin's arms fell slack for a fraction of a second before contracting like a snake. "They're not human!"

"Hansha! Look out!" The false kit yelled, frantic.

Rin looked over in time to see Kagome enter the grove, her movements swift. Without so much as a second glance the priestess had pulled the older kid from the pup's back before the two ruffians had the time to react. Toru came in running behind her, panting and wheezing.

Hansha kicked and bit, but Kagome's hold didn't loosen. When the mask fell off and silver hair floated around her, Rin realized that her own appearance had been copied too.

"Rin, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She coughed and rubbed at her neck. "But Shippo is—"

"Let her go!" The little boy turned Shippo look-alike demanded. He stood his ground against the adult Kitsune, defiance lit his green eyes ablaze. "She's mine. Let her go!"

The elder demoness looked from the Shippo in front of her, balling his little hands into fists as if he were going to hit her, then over at the second Shippo laying unconscious on the beaten foot path.

"No way." She said, breathless.

"Kagami! Just leave me!" The little Kagemono girl ordered. "Get out of here!"

A bell tolled in the distance. Smoke rose on the wind.

The Honno-Ji temple was on fire.

Kagami stood firm.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

 **Chapter Four: End**


	5. Orphans

**Chapter Five: Orphans**

 **Edo Period, Kyoto**

The Honnoji temple was on fire, which meant that Oda Nobunaga had just been assassinated—forced to commit suicide—and the ribbon of her history was progressing in the right direction in spite of her tentative involvement. Although, it was a bit earlier then she'd expected. The surge of infantrymen wasn't supposed to arrive until much later that evening. Every history book she'd ever read had painted the siege in the romanticized darkness of predawn.

After falling through the well, Kagome's interest in history—previously her second worst subject in school, falling right behind algebra—had sparked with newfound necessity. The desire to learn more about the era that she had found herself indentured to had sown the seeds of knowledge and her grades had been all the better for it. In that one class at least. Not that school grades held a flicker of meaning between clashing blades hundreds of years before the final high school exams that she would never attend.

The knowledge, on the other hand, the names and dates of the events and figures that paved the path to the modern era that she knew, loved and missed oh-so-desperately, could have made history a malleable putty in her hands. She could have taken Akechi Mitsuhide off the chess board months ago, which would have saved countless lives. But it also would have done irreparable damage that would have brought about an uncertain future.

No, she meddled as little as possible; aiding in battles she knew were to win to ensure that the outcome remained cemented and strong, keeping an eye on the important events. Being witness to time and playing the role as fate keeper—Guardian of the Realms maybe, kind of, whatever—was both thrilling and empowering. She was a flea riding on the shoulder of her nation's narrative.

Small changes were inevitable, be them brought on by the influence of her pack or the creative license of historical authors, but she did her damndest to see that they progressed as intended.

She'd been about to infiltrate Akechi's men to perform some minimal damage control. The civilians of Kyoto were not the target of the coup, but any rowdiness by overzealous samurai could have resulted in injuries.

But destiny had other plans for her.

The Priestess scanned the shadows lying stagnant among the trees. Her unbound ears swiveled towards every ghost of sound, seeking further danger. Yet the forest was stripped bare. The distant ruckus and smoke of the fire had sent even the birds flying.

"You're alone?" She stated incredulously.

Surely the boy standing before her wasn't the same Kagami as the man targeting her in the future. There _must_ have been an older Kagemono lurking nearby with the same name—the man that she had been preparing herself to face.

But no.

There were no others.

They were just children.

Stiffness fell from her shoulders. The girl held tight under her arm kicked and squirmed; the tinge of fear threaded itself through Rin's pine-tree scent. Kagami—kidnapped Yukina, injured Keiko, future psychopath and portal jumper, Kagami—stood shaking like a feral animal backed into a corner. His eyes flickered to his friend nervously, every emotion played out on Shippo's features in full technicolor, making them even easier for the kit's surrogate mother to read.

The real Rin scrambled to her feet and tried to lunge at the boy posing as her best friend, but Kagome caught her upper arm to hold her at bay.

"Wait." The Kitsune warned quietly.

"But Kagome! They attacked us!" The girl's Glamoured black hair was a disheveled mess hanging in front of her dark eyes, wide and frantic with the adrenaline still flowing through her blood. The false pup's struggles slowed before tapering out completely.

"Yeah, they did." Kagome took a slow, deep breath and leveled her hardened gaze at the little boy once more. He straightened his neck. "But they can see that they're outmatched now. It wouldn't be right to attack him. They've already lost." Her look dared him to say otherwise.

Kagami growled, but took a timid step back.

"But Shippo—!"

"Shippo is fine." The mother absently stroked Rin's short hair as reassurance, her eyes still trained on the boy. "He's knocked out, but his breathing is strong and steady, can you hear it? He'll be okay."

Reluctantly the preteen nodded, lowering her hackles.

The Priestess shifted the Shadow Beast under her arm; Kagami's eyes followed her every movement. The captured girl was panting. The muscles in Kagome's tail itched to flick and twitch, but she trained them still.

"I'm going to let you down and we're going to talk, okay?"

There was no response.

Gently she lowered the girl's feet to the road and untangled long strands of silver hair from her fingers. The moment her hold released, the young Kagemono swayed like a newborn lamb and fell to her elbows. Her chest heaved with heavy lungs. Only then did the Black Fox notice the sweat beading on the brow of Rin's mirror image.

"Hansha!" The diminutive Kagami cried. He jumped forward when she landed on her side in the dust. As soon as he was out of the direct path to Shippo—the real Shippo—Rin took the opportunity to sprint across the road, switching places with the boy. Toru joined her to check on the young Kitsune.

Kagome bent down to touch Hansha's forehead, but the barred teeth of Kagami made her pause.

She knew that she should have felt a smidge threatened, or at the very least she should have handled the situation with more delicacy, but she couldn't bring herself to. Not while he was wearing her son's face.

Shippo was about as threatening as a butterfly.

"That's enough of that!" Kagome scolded, using a matronly voice that would have made Mrs. Higurashi proud and her little brother tremble. "I'm not going to hurt her, so you need to chill out!"

He flinched away, startled.

"She's burning up... How long have you been alone out here?" When he bristled she added, "When was the last time either of you had anything to eat?"

Thoroughly chastised, Kagami wrapped tiny fingers around Hansha's forearm and tried to pull her away from the Kitsune's hold. "You're nosey. That's our problem, not yours. Let go of her!"

Kagome bit her lip. She wanted to change the future, which had originally meant keeping Kagami on her good side once they met... But the situation wasn't what she had expected; it was nothing like she had been planning for. He was a _child. They_ were children. Kagome couldn't _not_ interfere, not when she felt so bad for them. Not when they were wearing the torn and grubby clothes of street urchins.

It was decided before Kagome even really thought it through.

She was going to take it upon herself to make sure that they were off the streets and safe.

She was going to save them from the dangers of being alone in Ninjinkai.

She was going to intentionally change the future.

She was going to royally piss off a certain Youkai Lord by adding two more mouths to their pack.

"I'm making it my problem." The demoness said as she pulled the girl away from Kagami and into her arms. Hansha didn't protest, the last of her fight used up on grappling Rin. Her breath rasped and wheezed. "I'm taking her back to the hotel with us. Rin, can you carry Shippo?"

The pup nodded slowly.

Panic rose from the Shadow Beast when Kagome's power crackled to the surface so that she could weave a Glamour. it was one of Rin's, with shoulder length brown hair. Reusing a familiar weave was much quicker than creating a brand new one. And the girl already had Rin's body, which made it even easier. Nothing needed adjustment.

"Don't take her from me!" The little boy cried when his friend's image changed for a second time. He pulled frantically at Kagome's wrist, but he had no leverage. "She's mine! You can't take her! She'll be fine with _me_! It'll pass—it _always_ passes! I need her!"

The knowledge that the girl's attacks were a routine thing worried Kagome even more.

She rounded on him. "And who said I was taking her away from you? _You're_ coming too."

"But—!"

"No buts, mister! We have a room in the city where you can get some rest and eat a warm meal. I don't know why you're on your own out here, but you're really lucky that you made it this long, you know? It's dangerous, even for adults. There's an army in the city right now, and if any human saw you running around like that they'd start a hunt!"

Kagami looked back at the horned demon mask he'd dropped. Shippo's growing ears weren't going to be hidden behind that at all, let alone the tail touching the ground behind him.

The demoness didn't know the extent or specifics of the Shadow Beasts' powers. All she knew was that they had to touch their target to copy a form, but for how long? Could they switch between previous forms at will? Did they collect powers independently, or were they tied to the individual form? If the development of his abilities were anything like the kids in her pack, then he was still at an awkward and mostly unpredictable phase. That made him much easier to chew.

It also had the potential of making him more volatile.

Like when Rin had gotten mad and accidentally cut down a heavy bronze fire bell with a blazing arc of Youki in that village that they could never go back to again.

Kagome needed to be a bit more cautious.

With a deep, refocusing breath, the Fox dismissed him. Forcing him to go anywhere with her would have the opposite effect to what she needed to happen. "Alright, guys." She addressed her other kids in a firm voice. "Let's go."

Rin and Toru followed like ducklings when she turned to walk away back to the uneasy disorder of Kyoto's city streets.

Kagome paused when they were nearly out of the grove and Kagami hadn't moved from his spot. She spun to look at him and her expression softened at what she saw. There was agony and anger waging war behind green eyes. He looked lost and confused. Fight and flight reflexes were at odds, tying his feet to the ground where he stood.

Only fear kept the darkness inside of him at bay.

"Look." Kagome sighed. She wanted so badly to help him. "I won't force you to come with us. But your friend needs help and I can do that. I promise. You're more than welcome to come along to make sure I don't break my word."

It was better to give him the ghost of a choice than to uproot him against his will.

His face shadowed when his eyes fell to the ground.

"But that's a human city." Kagami wavered. Tiny hands crept to touch the points of his ears.

"It is, but there's food and shelter there. I can help you blend in with them if you let me. Can you play pretend?"

That ruffled his pride. "I don't play." He growled. "I become whatever I need to be."

"Great, well, right now you need to be human. For her—for Hansha. Can you do that?"

For a minute he studied her, scrutinized her like an ant. The gaze was so eerily similar to his grown self that it sent a shiver down the length of her spine. Kagome ignored it. After several long, drawn out heartbeats she turned away from him once more.

If he followed, perfect.

If not, that would be alright too.

So long as Hansha was in her care, she had a connection to the little boy. There was still time to reel him in.

It only took about twenty steps before the Priestess's tall lupine ears caught the patter of paws running to catch up. She kept her face stern, holding back her smile when the Kagemono planted himself like a boulder in the path before them. The two theater masks were clutched tight to his chest.

"I can do that." He declared. Matter-of-factly he added, "I don't trust you. But Hansha is more important than me."

Kagome met his steady stare, hardened by the protectiveness that he felt for his only packmate.

She nodded. "Then lets get going."

It was time to fix things.

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

Much to Kagami's dismay, Hansha had jumped at the opportunity to join Kagome and the others when the invitation was extended to them after they'd started looking a bit less like starving street rats and more like kids.

Finding medicine to sooth her asthma attack had won the Kitsune quite a few brownie points and the girl had agreed that there was safety in numbers. Having adults around and vigilant meant far fewer sleepless nights for the two of them taking turns keeping watch.

Since she was the older of the two and their elected leader, Kagami didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

A month had passed since that day in Kyoto, and the kids were still trying to find their footing among the Foxes, Dogs, and Birds. Introducing them to Sango, Miroku and theirs had been a feat; they'd masqueraded as human innumerable times, but had never actually held a full conversation with one. The little boy followed Hansha around like a shadow—pun not intended, though Kagme had laughed when Shippo pointed it out—and usually let her do the negotiations and small-talk when it came to mortals.

She shared quite a bit about her life within her Shadow Beast clan, but never about the events that lead to their abandonment.

They were orphans. Book closed, end of story.

Nobody pressed them on the details.

At camp and away from civilization, Kagami got along surprisingly well with Rin and Toru. Then again, the Priestess hadn't told them about the Shadow Beast from the future.

Shippo avoided him like the plague itself.

He seemed like a normal kid. He played in the woods, lamented collecting firewood, and took every opportunity he could to go swimming. He loved smelt, but wouldn't touch mackerel with a fifty foot pole. His obi was always loose and crooked because he hated feeling confined and he was easily annoyed by itchy socks. Kagome occasionally found him pushing boundaries to see just how far she was willing to yield to him, which he quickly learned wasn't very far.

The only real unusual thing about either of the Shadow kids was the masks that they never seemed to take off.

Kagami clung to his like it was his only life raft. They both did. They were masters at eating with them on and they didn't even come off when they bathed or at night when the two laid down to sleep.

Sometimes Kagome wondered if they even had faces under there...

Slowing in her chores, the demoness surreptitiously peeked over to the young Shadow Beast girl, scrubbing her new magenta Hakama while Rin and the twins chattered over their work further downstream.

Hansha was a bit taller than Rin in her real body, with skin so pale that her blue veins sprang visibly to the surface every time she became angry or excited. The back of her head was smooth and hairless, her neck thin. Physically she was delicate. The Noh mash showing the painted face of a young girl with smooth black hair parted at the center was weathered from years of daily use.

Curiosity itched like a tick at the base of the Priestess' neck.

Kagome realized that her hands had stopped working and she was staring. With so many people in their pack and growing—Sango and Miroku were eagerly trying for their fourth child—it wasn't often that she found herself alone with the little girl, so there may not have been a better time to ask.

"Why do you wear that?"

Hansha looked down at her hands then at the kimono she was wearing before she looked up.

"Wear what?"

"The mask," The Fox demoness pointed to her own face. "You take it off when you shapeshift, but never when you're you."

"Oh, right." Hansha must have blushed. She rubbed at the rosy lobe of her barely pointed ear. "I forget that I'm wearing it. All the adults wear these. We don't have to, but my father said its good practice to get used to it." She paused for a moment before explaining. "Adult Shadow Beasts that show their face too often become sick and lose themselves, so I keep it on. It doesn't need to be on all the time, but we do it without even realizing. It's just something we do."

"Just instincts?"

"Yeah, probably."

Kagome's eyes widened with understanding. "Like how Inu need to fight to keep their heads on straight."

The girl's face pinched with concern. "Do they? I would hate to see Mr. Sesshoumaru with a crooked head." Kagome had to bite her lip to hold back her laugh. Hansha continued. "I never had the chance to meet many other types of demons, so I don't know much about them. I was always with the clan. Kagami might know more. I think we're the only ones that use masks. Kagemono, I mean."

It was their urge.

From how she described it, it made perfect sense. Dogs needed battle, Foxes needed touch, Birds needed open space, and Shadow Beasts needed to hide. They didn't need to wear the mask when they were shifted, because their true face was already hidden behind someone else's.

After wringing out her pants and laying them in the baskets of clothes to be hung beside her, Hansha reached up to slowly untie the cord holding her Noh mask in place. "The strap broke last year, so I made a new one. See?"

Blinking, the Priestess took carved wood when it was handed to her, but her focus was locked on the sudden reveal of the girl's small face instead of the mask.

She wasn't just bald; the Kagemono had no hair to speak of. No eyebrows, not even lashes to rim her eyes.

Eyes that were large and black.

No.

Shizume's eyes were black. Toru's eyes were black.

Hansha's eyes were the absence of color and light. They had no sclera, no whites whatsoever as if she were wearing blackout contacts. It should have been unnerving, especially when the young demoness smiled to reveal an extra set of too-sharp canines. But the awkward legginess of her youth nullified the effect.

She was far from some of the ugly beasts that Kagome had seen. In fact, she was quite handsome with petite button nose, high cheek bones and round lips sure to be the star attraction when she filled out into adulthood.

By the looks of the Shadow girl age-wise she had just started her breed's puberty, which meant that soon enough she would need that mask for real.

Hansha fidgeted when the scrutiny lasted a bit too long for comfort.

"See?"

Kagome jolted and looked to the mask in her hands. "This! Right! You made this?" The flat cord was woven tightly with a consistency and skill that took patience and years to master. Kumihimo braids were easy to overlook in the modern era, but in the past they were a fine art with countless uses.

"That's really impressive, actually. How did you learn to do that?"

When the girl grinned one of her upper canines stuck out from her lips. "Mrs. Mae taught me! She was an artisan before my father hired her to be one of my teachers. I should have paid better attention, though. This is the only pattern that I remember."

The mask felt heavy in the Priestess' hands.

"What... happened to Mrs. Mae? To your father?"

Hansha's grin fell, her gaze dark gaze dropped to the braid that Kagome was twisting between her fingers. Her forehead furrowed.

She was easy to read. That made things easier.

The Kitsune hadn't wanted to ask any sensitive questions before, since it was sort of hard to judge the mood of a wooden face. Sure, she could smell the subtle shifts in their scent, but sometimes emotions changed faster than they could leave an impression. Pushing too hard was a risk. Building their trust was more important than answers.

Mine fields were easier to navigate when you could see the trigger switch.

"They disappeared with the castle." The young teen supplied slowly. "Kagami and I are all that's left of the main clans."

Kagome tested the ground.

"What castle? When the realms split?"

The comers of the little teen's mouth pulled taut as she breathed through her nose, avoiding Kagome's eyes.

Ah. That was the switch.

"This pattern," Hansha redirected before her new guardian could. She reached over to touch the Noh mask and its cord as if looking for a counterweight to regain her balance. "It's called a tortoise shell, not that you can really tell. I know it the best. When I jumped to more difficult patterns before I was supposed to, Mrs. Mae made me do the tortoise shell over and over again as punishment."

Kagome smiled and let the other subject drop away.

"Why all white? Usually these cords are bright and colorful, aren't they?" The Fox asked as she handed the mask back. The straps were white with subtle cream hexagons.

Hansha nodded, tickled. That was just the question she wanted to answer.

"It reminds me flower petals. We had this one flower in the garden that was really big with blossoms shaped like long bells. They made my room smell like summer."

"Lilies?"

"Yes! There were orange ones, too, but the white ones—"

"They're my favorite!" Both demonesses exclaimed at the same time.

The young Kagemono blinked when Kagome snorted and soon they were both laughing. Her face quickly turned red with joy.

"We only had one." She said after they settled. "But someday I want to plant an entire field of them!"

Blue eyes went wide before filling with warmth.

"That's a great idea, Hansha."

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

"Wake up."

Hansha groaned, swatted away the hand shaking her hip and pulled her blanket up to her neck.

"Wake up." The younger boy's voice repeated in an urgent whisper. "We need to leave."

Pulled from the comfort of her dreams, the young teen rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked up at the harvest moon hanging fat and heavy in the sky. Across the campfire from them sat Sesshoumaru, propped up against a tree and dozing silently with his sword against his unarmored shoulder. Kagome was on the ground in front of him, curled around the Dog's daughter and her own kit, sleeping deeply.

For the past week, the two demons had trained throughout the night and they'd finally given in to their fatigue. That left Shizume on patrol. She'd left early that evening with Toru so that he could learn the rounds. They would have been miles away.

The young teen rolled over to face the one responsible for disturbing her. "It's the middle of the night Kagami, what's wrong?"

He looked over her to the sleeping demons and lowered his head. "We can't stay here any longer. It's not safe." The tremor of his voice gave away the emotions that he kept hidden behind his horned Mazoku mask.

At that the Shadow girl sat up and touched the mask lying beside her out of habit. She wore it less after having that conversation with Kagome, but still kept it close.

"What do you mean?" She asked, making sure to keep her voice quiet under the crackling of the fire's embers. Although, she had a pretty good idea why her friend was panicked and ready to run like a rabbit.

"Kagome and the others, they're the Shikon group." He explained.

Hansha swallowed, her ink black eyes dropped to the ground. "I know." She admitted to him before he could continue. "I found out around the end of spring when they were celebrating Matsuko and Tsuru's birthday. I overheard Kagome talking with the humans down by the river about the anniversary of the fight."

Ten years, they said it'd been.

Ten years since the world had been flip turned upside down and told to adjust.

Ten years since she lost her life of luxury as the clan leader's daughter and was thrown into the wilds with just a handful of children and the shirts on their backs.

Kagami pulled his hands away. The mask on his face was always scowling, but that didn't hide his hurt from her. "You knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew you'd freak out. Like you always do." She gestured to the packed satchels that he had placed at the foot of her blanket. "Like you're doing right now."

"They killed Naraku." He hissed under his breath, checking the status of the sleeping adults again with a twitch of paranoia. When they didn't stir he continued, his voice cracking. "And because of that—"

"'I have a bad feeling about that Spider." The girl interrupted him. "'They shouldn't trust him. He's up to no good.' You told me that, remember? And you were right. You have the best gut instincts of anyone I knew. But you go haywire when you're upset." She grabbed ahold of his shaking arms to drag him back down to earth before he was too far out of reach. "Kagome would never intentionally hurt us."

The preteen boy searched her eyes for the lie, but all he saw was the reflection of the dying fire.

"Do you really believe that?"

Her grip tightened when she nodded. "Yeah. It's what my gut is telling me. Our chances really are better here. We've already lost the others. Please don't make me take the risk of losing you too..."

"Hansha. . ." She didn't resist when he took back his hands to wipe away the tear that betrayed her calm to roll down her check. If there was one thing in that strange new world that Hansha could still rely on, it was her best friend's protective streak. Even in a panic he would face down wolves if it meant keeping her tears at bay. "They couldn't shift yet. It wasn't your fault. You'll never lose me. I'm strong for my age. And I'll get even stronger. We can survive together, away from here."

With a frown, Hansha pulled the smaller boy into her arms.

"But I like it here." She said, ignoring the stiffness in his shoulders and resting her chin on the smooth of his head. "I'm happy here."

It was a strange pack, but being with other children again soothed the raw spot on her soul. Kagome, a den mother through and through, went out of her way to make sure that they felt comfortable and included. And being around Shizume, with all of her courtly knowledge, was like having her beloved teachers back.

Even Sesshoumaru, always cold and stern and flaunting his lordly airs, reminded her of her father. "If I stay, will you stay here with me? Even knowing who they are?"

He was silent for a long while, but she didn't need the words to be spoken to hear his answer.

Of course he would.

He followed her on even her silliest whims—had stayed by her side when a powerful Kitsune woman spirited her away into the unknown.

Instead of confirming what she already knew, Kagami simply stated his mind.

"I don't like this."

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

One by one Kagome lifted decorative clay roof tiles from the shipping cart and tied them off into smaller parcels. She and Sesshoumaru wouldn't have cared if they'd gotten the plainest shingles on the market, but their resident Sparrow had insisted that they be embellished with the Mon of the lnu Youkai's noble clan; the stylized trio of narcissus blossoms encased by six sided tortoise shells that adorned his kimono for the longest time. Shizume believed that it was important for them to keep the symbolism of the Western house; it was a mark of pride that unified them as a collective and not just a ragtag group of demons wandering without a purpose.

She said keeping a familiar visual would be beneficial if they ever wanted to rebuild the House and recruit others that were lost like Kagome suggested.

The matching motif on the gold buttons Kagome kept from the army jacket she'd been given in the future told her that it stuck.

After years of camping, moving from inn to inn and crashing on Sango and Miroku's spare futon, the Kitsune recognized their need for a space of their own. Kaede had given her the hut in the village when the elder had gotten sick, but the tiny room could do little more than store their personal effects. So they mapped out a plot of land in the outskirts of lnuyasha's forest, as far from the village as possible, and started building.

After all of the additions that he had built to his own sprawling home, Miroku was quite the architect and a huge help since none of the villagers had stepped up or offered their hand.

A clatter of wood made the Priestess look up.

"I'm okay!" Shippo called as he fought to regain control of a heavy support beam from the pile of timbers he'd just tripped over.

He nearly had it back on his shoulder when Sesshoumaru walked by and casually picked it up, lifting the growing fox kit with it. The redhead swung his bright green boots over the beam and laughed—his biggest accomplishment that year was the ability to fully hold his human form and he had celebrated by buying a dozen different boots and sandals for his humanoid feet.

His tail dragging along the ground quickly became a target for Kirara to stalk as she nudged her four year old charge along, trying to teach the silly human child to hunt.

Rin followed closely behind them carrying a fussy infant.

"Hey Rin, Chiyo's gums are bothering her." Sango called down from the top of a thin scaffold at the top of the manor's unfinished frame. Kagome wasn't the only one with superhuman mom-hearing. The ex-slayer wiped sweat from her brow before brushing her hands on dust covered Hakama. "Could you get the wooden ring from my bag so she can chew on it?"

"Yes ma'am!" The silver haired preteen called. "Can you keep an eye on Tourai, Kirara?"

The old Nekomanta mewed in response, winding herself between the boy's feet.

Toting bundles of unfinished planks for the floors, Miroku and Shizume followed Toru to where they needed to finish laying them in what would be the great room.

That was one of Sesshoumaru's additions that Kagome hadn't been able to talk him out of. It wasn't as if they were going to be entertaining the Shogun, or many others for that matter. At least not anytime soon. To be honest, the floor plan was a bit of a mess. Bits and pieces of the three adult demons were scattered haphazardly throughout. Sesshoumaru's great room and dojo, Shizume's tea room and oddly placed alcoves, Kagome's close-to-modern kitchen layout and unconventional bathroom. It felt more like an art project than a residence.

But it was going to be home.

"Are you not embarrassed that your wife is working harder than you?" The tall Youkai woman asked the human beside her with a ruffle from her tan wings.

Miroku laughed and gently laid the planks close to where they had left off. "I have no reason to be. Her balance is far superior to my own, so she is better suited for the job." He beamed with pride before the expression fell to his more promiscuous nature. "And, naturally, Sango is far more attractive when she's disheveled and out of breath." His words rang loud and unabashed. "Her hard work brings me a _great_ deal of joy."

A planing block fell from the sky and landed on his head.

"I'm so sorry, _darling_. " Sango yelled to him, sounding not at all sorry.

Kagome laughed and tied off her last parcel.

Across the clearing that would soon be their courtyard, she caught sight of the two Shadow kids talking. Hansha was carrying a jug of water from the brook, but the boy at her side was noticeably empty handed.

She could fix that!

Besides, there was something that she'd been waiting for the right moment to talk to him about.

"Kagami!"He jumped when she called out to him. "Can you help me move these if you're not busy?"

His steps faltered, but only for a moment before he continued walking as if he hadn't heard her speak. Unfortunately he wasn't very good at keeping it cool around the fox and his legs were far too stiff for a natural stride. The taller girl huffed and grabbed the collar of his robe to stop him. Only after she'd scolded him in clipped whispers did he turn to acknowledge the Priestess.

He made his way over to her like a dog being pulled on a leash with its tail between its legs.

Kagome didn't give him the chance to back out or protest; she lifted a bundle into his arms the moment he was close enough. Then she grabbed two for herself and led him across the mess of building materials.

With an easy, gravity defying movement aided by a swirl of Youki, Kagome stepped up onto the raised deck platform without jostling the delicate pottery. Her unbound hair swayed around her hips when she turned to see if the little boy needed help.

"We can put these in your room until we need them." The demoness said once he'd scrambled up and readjusted the heavy parcel.

"My room?" Kagami strained to lean around his shingles so that he could eye her skeptically. "You're building me a room?"

"Yup. Everyone else already agreed to bunk together and I figured that you would appreciate having your own personal space." She explained. "I want you to have room to grow without anybody stepping on your toes. A place you can go when you and Shippo get a little too hot-headed." They stepped over the mostly finished bones of the floor. She paused in what was going to be a hallway towards the very back of the building. "Shippo and Toru will be sharing the room across from you. Hansha and Rin asked to take that one at the end of the hall. This one," she stepped into a rectangular space and set down the clay tiles. "—is yours."

Kagami followed her slowly into the space. it was on the small side—four tatami mats at best—but it was more than big enough for one preteen to call their own.

"Yours is the only exterior room of the three, so you'll have a sliding door to the deck. But that doesn't mean you can just sneak out in the middle of the night, you hear me?" She points to her ears, her tone stern. "I'll know if you do."

The Kagemono's mask turned down to stare at the floor, his ears burned red.

Kneeling down in front of him, the Priestess offered him a gentle smile and straightened his sash.

"Kagami," She started. "You always tell things as they are and I've never heard you lie. You're a really smart kid and a pleasure to have around. I want to make sure that you know you can talk to me if something is ever bothering you. If I've done anything to make you upset, please let me know so I can fix it."

The din of construction continued around them as he stood in silence. Kagome let her primping stop when he shook his head and sniffed. His thin, sickly pale hands clenched until he finally gave in and pulled down his mask to smudge away the dew in his eyes with the heel of his palm. Kagami shook his head again before looking up at her. He didn't smile. His eyebrow-less forehead was pinched with a grimace, and those abysmally black eyes shimmered in the unfiltered daylight.

"You're... not a bad priestess." He said before the demoness's concern could start to grow. It made his skin itch. Kagome smiled when he added "I won't leave."

"I'm happy to hear that." A handkerchief appeared from the sleeve of her green clover Kimono and she used it to catch a tear that was traveling down his sternly straight nose.

Her careful treatment made him flush. His feet took a step back.

"Let's get back to work." Kagome said before he could duck back inside his shell. They were making pretty great progress and she didn't want to push her luck. She stood and brushed away the sweet cedar sawdust clinging to her long fabrics. "If we get done early today, I'll take you with me to catch dinner. I'm feeling quail tonight." Opting against the theatrics that she usually used to invite any of the other kids out for a chance to run, Kagome kept her tone neutral. "We could make it a fox hunt. Think you'd be up to that?"

Fox hunts, as Kagome had wittly coined them, were an opportunity for her and the kids to spend some time together one on one where they could be themselves and drop all bindings restricting them. Under her supervision, she allowed them to run rampant with their powers. Far from human villages they played games like extreme hide and seek or waged energy dart nerf wars—harmless, of course. It fine-tuned their motor skills and helped them to come up with creative solutions when their unique breed abilities or skills didn't quite fit the standard job description. For instance, Shippo wasn't able to disguise his demonic energy on his own yet, so he often created clones to use as decoys to confuse the seeker as he made his way to the safe zone.

Then, when all was said and done and they were exhausted from play, the real task began: finding dinner in the forest that they had just disturbed with their displays and ruckus. It forced them to work harder and rely less on luck. Great training for not just the kids, but for Kagome as well.

One great thing about the separation of the of the Demon Realm was that they could do things like that, could flaunt their energies, without fear or threats lurking behind them.

Well, they ran into a Priestess once. That was interesting. But the girl was so undertrained that she hadn't been able to recognize their Youki as demonic. Most holy warriors had done as Miroku had and retired from the profession years ago.

It was like Halloween without the razorblades.

Kagami was the only one of the kids that hadn't been on a hunt with her alone yet.

The scrunch of the Shadow Beast's brow fell away, but his expression was quickly hidden by his horned Mazoku mask. The moment it was secured into place he shifted into Shippo's slightly shorter form—about as tall as a seven year old human child. He was always more comfortable in a body other than his own.

With a hesitant flick from the redhead's too-long tail, Kagami nodded.

He would go hunting with her.

Baby steps.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

"Do you know why Kagome only used bows given to her by another priestess and not just any bow from the village?" Miroku asked as he led Shippo to the shed behind his home.

"Probably because they were gifts?" Shippo suggested. His arms crossed behind his head.

He liked helping the once-monk with chores. It gave him the male bonding time that he craved. It was just so much _harder_ to joke and banter with Sesshoumaru. He basically had the sense of humor of a rock with teeth. Toru was usually glued to the side of one of the women or girls, so 'guy-time' wasn't his forte. And Kagami...

Well, as far as the Kit was concerned, the further away from Kagami he was, the better.

There was something _off_ about that kid and it wasn't just that the Shadow Beast had basically knocked a building on him in the future, either. He just couldn't put his finger on _why._

"And they were always fancy, but not gaudy fancy. They suit her."

"Hmm." The human hummed. "While those are both very valid points, there is another factor that influenced her preference, whether she realized it or not. Had you ever noticed—back when she was human—that Kagome's purity was always more powerful when she used one of Lady Kaede or Lady Kikyou's bows?"

The little Kitsune thought about that for a moment before replying. "Yeah, she'd fizzle out when she used a random one. I figured it was 'cause she wasn't comfortable with the ones she found lying around."

Miroku nodded. "While it does help immensely to have a bow with a grip and draw custom tuned, it's actually their _material_ that makes them special. You see, each of the bows and the arrows that Kaede had provided had been crafted from the limbs of the Goshinboku. They held a portion of the God tree's spiritual energy." He stopped at the outbuilding and turned to face the demon boy. "When your powers are still young and growing, they can be amplified using a sacred or demonic object."

Shippo perked when he understood. "Like the Tetsusaiga?" He asked.

" _Exactly_ like the Tetsusaiga. The sword made Inuyasha's own Youki stronger until he had grown to match the power of the blade. Any strengths that he had achieved beyond that were all his own, but it was thanks to the demonic qualities of the sword that he had been able to advance so quickly in the beginning of his journey."

The apothecary opened the door to the shed and disappeared into its shadows. Items that had cluttered over time clanked and shifted as he moved them to the side. His voice echoed off the wooden paneling. "Your foxfire is still developing and it will be several hundred years until you are able to use it at its fullest potential on your own.

There was a jingle of metal. Shippo stepped away from the entrance to let Miroku join him outside once more. Cobwebs clung to the man's unbound, scruffy black hair.

"Which is why I think you will benefit from holding onto this."

Shippo stared at the gold monkstaff resting against Miroku's shoulder. It had been the guy's only companion for years before joining the shard hunting group. Had been his weapon of choice before even his talismans. The dust coating it did little to diminish its worth and sharp electric energy.

"I-I can't take that!" Shippo stuttered. It was iconically Miroku; he couldn't imagine a Miroku _without_ it, even though it'd been a couple years since he'd actively carried it around. The boy searched for reasons to refuse the bladed staff. "It's too big for me!"

The father of four laughed. "You'll grow into it."

"Its a _holy_ object. I have _demon_ energy, remember?"

"Items embedded with sacred power do not discriminate between the energies of their users the way demonic items do, unless they are protected by a barrier." He spun the staff before sticking it out for the Kit to investigate. "See? Barrier free."

"Isn't it like a family heirloom, though?"

"All the more reason that I would like for you to accept and use it, Shippo."

"But you _have_ kids." The little boy argued indignantly. Surely it should continue to be passed down the family line, right?

With a patient sigh, Miroku squatted down to meet the flustered Kit eye to eye. He laid the metal staff across the tops of this thighs, rested his elbows on it, and laced his fingers.

"The laws of this country are changing." He explained slowly in his best and most soothing dad voice. "People are no longer allowed to own weapons, unless they are a part of the warrior class. I stepped down to the merchant class because I'd already seen more than enough fighting to fill the pages of a lifetime. Now, if I am caught in possession of this, I will be punished by the law. It is a risk that I am no longer willing to take. This isn't something that I can easily disguise as décor, like Hiraikotsu."

"It needs a new owner, however I couldn't possibly let it fall into the hands of a stranger. It must go to somebody that is close to me, who I love and trust as much as my own children. Someone respectful of its history who can grant it a future with purpose. It needs to be someone who will benefit from it, Somebody who lives outside of the law. _You_ are that someone, Shippo."

"But!" Shippo scrambled. Embarrassment tinged his cheeks scarlet. "I don't know how to use it!"

Miroku slapped his thigh and grinned. "I may be getting old, but I'm not completely useless! I fully intend to train you as long as I am able!"

The little redhead rolled his eyes. "You're not old, Miroku. You don't smell crusty yet." His humor sobered when he eyed the monk staff one more time. The wind sent the metal rings around the blade dancing and chiming.

"But... its too big for me." Shippo repeated mournfully. Would he even grow tall enough to even wield it in Miroku's lifetime? The guy was still pretty young, but small demon's growth rate wasn't looking promising.

The ex-warrior grinned, sprang to his feet, and then winced when his knees cracked. At thirty-five he was just beginning to feel the strain he'd put his teenage body through, but that didn't damper his spirits. He dug back into the shed and emerged with a stick much shorter than the staff. Only, it wasn't just _any_ stick, it was a firm branch stripped of bark with a metal plate strapped to one end—a parody of the golden staff in miniature.

"Would this work?"

Shippo couldn't help but snort at the cob-job.

All it needed was some of Mrs. Higurashi's aluminum foil and they could use it to talk to aliens like in that movie he'd watched with Souta. The Kit fell back in the grass when he couldn't contain his laughter.

"How cruel!" Miroku pulled the mini staff back with dramatized pain. "I worked hard to create a perfectly balanced replica and you wound me!"

Shippo propped himself on his elbows and pointed at the disk. "Does Sango know you took her mirror!?"

"Of course not. And she will likely be gray by the time she goes to search for it, so I do believe my life will be spared."

"Sure, Sure!" Shippo let himself fall back into the wind swept grass that hadn't yet been cut down that month, his arms spread wide. He smiled. "So... when do we start?" As an afterthought, he added. " _Master_ Miroku."

The smaller than average staff disappeared in the grass beside him with a dull clang.

"Right now, if you do not have any other obligations."

The little Fox blinked.

"You already know I don't. You asked Kagome to let me help you with chores today."

"So your schedule is free then? Wonderful! Let's get started!"

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

On a foggy autumn night, after a particularly grueling session with Miroku that made his upper arms feel like jelly, Shippo yawned as he made his way back to the not-quite-little manor through the dense trees of Inuyasha's forest. They met twice a week at the clearing by the river not too far from Miroku's home while their usual spot was under construction—the new head priest of the village was having a shrine built around the Bone Eater's well to seal it away. He wanted to prevent any demons from using it as a portal between the worlds.

They couldn't have, of course. But none of them had the heart to tell him that.

The villagers seemed to be in high spirits again since he came to settle there and Kagome had a suspicion that the priest was an ancestor of her family, so they kept their distance to avoid messing up her family's timeline.

As the little Youkai went along the familiar path, small noises caught his ear. The muffled crunch of a leaf, the brush of a branch, the light patter of wooden sandals.

He didn't pay them any mind.

A carelessly loud rustle in the bushes behind him made Shippo groan. There was no way he could ignore _that_ one. He stopped and turned to face the one who'd been following him. It wasn't the first time the Fox had noticed the Kagemono watching him from the shadows like the creepy lurker he was, but it was the first time he actually had to address it.

"What do _you_ want?"

Sheepishly, Kagami untangled himself from the shrub that had snagged his coat sleeve and stepped out from the tree line.

When he didn't say anything right away Shippo crossed his arms and cleared his throat.

Kagami lowered his gaze; his shoulders slumped forward, swallowed by the oversized blue Haori jacket he was wearing.

"Can you... Show me what you're learning from that guy?"

He wanted Shippo to train him?

No way.

"Ma put you up to this, didn't she?" Kagome was always trying to get the two to play nice together, always trying to convince the Kit that this Kagami and the one in the future weren't the same guy. Well, no, he wasn't _yet_. But it was only a matter of time until the kid snapped. He had this pool of paranoia simmering under the surface, only held at bay by Hansha, Kagome and Rin's gentle reassurances.

But what'll happen when one of them weren't there to do that?

"No!" The masked boy denied. If he had fox ears like Kagome they would have been flat to his head.

"No, she doesn't know I'm here."

"Just talk to Miroku." Shippo said in a dry voice, not that he _wanted_ Kagami taking over his teacher, too. "He'll make time for you if you ask."

The taller boy shifted his feet.

Wait. Had Kagami _ever_ spoken with Miroku?

"Your teeth are way sharper than his are, ya know." Shippo mentioned slowly, just in case the young demon wasn't aware of that fact. "He won't bite you if you talk to him." The splotches of humiliated red that appeared on the Shadow kid's ears were far more satisfying than he'd expected. Instead of stopping while he was ahead like he knew he should have, the Fox continued to antagonize. "You could just join Sesshoumaru and Shizume's lessons in the Dojo. I'm sure Rin'd _love_ to spar with you. Head over heels. Or you could even ask Ma—she already dotes on you like a mother hen."

Jealous? Him? Nah!

Well... maybe.

Unfortunately Kagami didn't take the bait.

"I'd rather... if _you_ taught me, Shippo."

"But _why_?" The Kitsune asked, flabbergasted.

He couldn't stand the Shadow Beast, so why would the boy want to work together with him, of all people?

Kagami straightened his mask and tugged at the ends of his long sleeves to make sure they were perfectly disheveled. He didn't say anything until there was nothing left to fiddle with.

"Because you're just so _cool._ " He finally admitted like a schoolgirl confessing a crush. "You're really advanced compared to the other kids, even though you are very small for your age. I can barely even light a candle with your fox fire."

Shippo let the height jab fly over his head. He deserved that.

"So?" He challenged. "The grownups are a thousand times better!" Not that he _wasn't_ the raddest thing before sliced bread. His ability and skill wasn't even a drop in the bucket compared to Kagome, let alone a mighty beast like _Sesshoumaru._

"Because you don't _like_ me." Kagami explained, as if that made any sense whatsoever. He straightened to meet Shippo's challenge, but it was strained without Hansha around to back him up. "You don't force yourself to like me and you never tip-toe around me. That means you won't go easy on me. Everyone here is really nice, but they treat me like I'm made of glass. I'll never learn that way."

Huh.

That... was actually a pretty great reason.

Practicing with Kagami _would_ give The Fox kit a chance to practice his new skills on someone his own size, which could only benefit him in the long run. It would also give Shippo a chance to let out some of his frustrations and rough Kagami up without actually being a bully and roughing him up out of spite. Come on! The kid was literally asking for it! There was no way Kagome could get mad at him!

Maybe, just maybe, they really _could_ change Kagami's future.

And if he was able to change, maybe they could even be... friends?

Woah, woah, _woah!_

Littler steps, Shippo, littler steps.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, I'll teach you what I learn." He pointed at Shadow kid, firm and serious with a mischievous glint to his eye. "But be warned. It's not easy being awesome like me! It'll take a lot of hard work. Are you ready for that? I don't take on pushovers as my pupils!"

At a loss for words, all Kagami could do was nod.

"Good. Right," The smaller demon spun on the heels of his boots and ducked into the thick underbrush that led them off the beaten trail.

"Let's find you a stick."

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Kagome clambered under the blankets of the bed in the largest bedroom in the manor, slumped onto Sesshoumaru's bare chest and sprawled out. It was warm under the furs that she had given him their first winter in the human realm manor. She hummed, but the noise rolled in her throat like a purr.

"Just when I believed that your moods couldn't possibly become any brighter." Sesshoumaru said with an amused huff. "Was this human festival somehow better than all the others you've insisted on attending?"

The Priestess tried to hold a scowl when she looked up at him, but her smile wouldn't back down. A radiant sunshine filled her scent and she was practically glowing from purity dancing within her soul. She curled closer and pulled her bare legs up to her chest so that she could playfully rest her frozen toes on his abdomen. She felt his muscles twitch from the cold.

"There was a vendor selling fans and masks and stuff—you know, the usual festival fare—so I offered to buy some for the kids."

"I understand that they took you up on your offer?" He said when she paused for his input.

"Yup!" Kagome giggled and spun her long black hair in loops, mimicking Rin's anxious habit that she'd mostly grown out of. "And not just that. Guess what one Kagami picked out?"

"I'm certain that you will tell me."

"He picked out a Kitsune mask! A _Kitsune!"_ She dropped the locks and pointed to herself with a silly grin just in case he hadn't understood the implication and needed the extra road signs. "And if that wasn't amazing enough, there's more! He picked out a pretty simple one with these markings on the forehead—like a diamond and two leaves? You'll see it tomorrow. He said that they represent the three demons that changed their lives: you, me, and Shizume." She placed her palm on his chest and then hers respectively before pointing up to the ceiling, indicating the Bird demon that flew the coop the moment Kagome set off to meet the Inu Youkai in his chambers, as was their routine.

Shizume always got a bit awkward and ruffled about their arrangement, since she had been raised in a clan that fell on the more _traditional_ side of the fence. That is: among monogamous birds and nowhere near Kitsune. But instead of stirring a ruckus, she granted them privacy, muttering all the while.

With a surge of glee, Kagome hid her manic smile beneath the heavy blankets. Her wagging tail tickled his thighs.

"Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard?"

Sesshoumaru pulled the gray furs from around her face and smoothed the static from her bangs. His large hand moved to caress her ear.

"You are too easily pleased, Priestess." He scolded in a husky voice before adding. "You've done good by them."

Kagome flushed a bright scarlet and looked up at him with her glowing ocean eyes.

"You think so?"

Instead of an immediate verbal reply, a deep rumble rose from his chest. She smiled and nuzzled his jawline with gratitude.

"You've done good by us all." He said aloud, voice molasses thick and hungry.

The praise was too much for her chest to contain. Kagome gripped the silken hairs at the back of his neck and pressed her body closer to his, enjoying every electric tingle that his touch provided her skin.

In a skilled, one-armed maneuver, the large Dog had flipped them over, so that the little Fox was the one on her back. The warmth of the furs and the starlight of his hair cascaded over her like a waterfall. His gentle kisses traveled lower until she opened up to him, inviting the carnal pleasures that he offered.

 _'Don't let this moment end.'_ Kagome thought as her fingers twisted in the sheets.

 _'This life is perfect.'_

A whisper quiet moan escaped her lips.

Who knew changing the future could feel so sublime.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

 **Chapter Five: End**


	6. Bloodstained

**Chapter Six: Bloodstained**

 **Edo Period, The Human Realm Manor**

The future can't be changed.

Not really.

The thought devastated Kagome's reality as she staggered from the angry embers of the manor that they had called home for several wonderful years. She stared down in horror at the red smears painting her hands.

How could control slip through her fingers so quickly?

Rin tried her hardest to hold all of the boys back, but Shippo's violent struggles had her hands full. He screamed out to his mother, demanded release to check on her wellbeing, and cursed the Dog demoness for all that he had. Toru gasped and cried out when Kagami slipped free and tore across the field to the danger of the inferno that threatened to catch the dry summer's foliage.

The blaze at the Priestess' back was intense, but the burns were love nips compared to the pain grinding within her chest like rusted gears.

"Where is she!?" The young Kagemono demanded. He looked frantically around the Kitsune for his partner in crime and best friend. "Where's Hansha!?"

The earth crumbled away beneath her feet like brittle clay baking in the desert sun when his ink-black eyes fell to the blood staining her nightwear. Dust particles puffed, filling the air around her when her knees hit the ground hard, catching the bright of the fire like a shower of starlight.

Only it wasn't dust.

The sharp sting of purity was still fresh in her nose.

"... I'm so—!" It felt like there was a noose at her throat. Her voice wined and popped like the support beams that she'd narrowly escaped within the fire. "It's not what you think, Kagami! I swear!"

The priestess forced herself to look up at him; hot tears cut tracks down her cheeks, washing away the blood, soot, and ash that cloaked her. "It was an accident!"

The boy had grown so much under her care. He had accepted her as his teacher and caretaker, one he could turn to with any problem. He was sharp-witted and eager, soaking up her lessons like a sponge. She'd watched his kindness and generosity sprout, slow but steady. She had seen his gentleness with Hansha and later with Rin.

Kagome had been given a glimpse of the proud and honorable man that he had the potential of becoming.

That vision shattered.

Thin, onion layers of trust that she fought to build were stripped away until only darkness remained. The same darkness that once threatened to consume him, held at bay by Hansha's gentle reassurances. His lithe form heaved with each breath. His claws bit into the pale palms of his furiously shaking hands, drawing from them the scent of fresh, living blood.

Then, as suddenly as the eye of a storm, he went still and calm.

A chill ran down the priestess' spine.

"You're lying." He said. The words weren't cold so much as they were empty.

"No, I—!"

"She was mine. You took her from me. You took everything from me."

His eyes widened, black holes startled with realization.

"I'm all that's left and you'll take me too."

"Kagami! Listen to me!"

But it was too late. He was already backing away from her.

"Kagami!"

He broke out into a sprint, stealing away into the black of night beyond the crawling shadows cast by the untamed fire. Kagome couldn't find the strength to chase after him.

There was a difference between fate and destiny. With hard work and determination, fate could be shaped and altered.

Destiny never yielded its sway.

"Kagami!"

Names, dates and actions may change, but the end result remained the same.

════════════════ **With Reason ═════════════════**

 **Chapter Six: End**


	7. The Comb

**Chapter Seven: The Comb**

 **Edo Period, The Remains of the Human Realm Manor**

How many years did they have together?

Not nearly enough.

Kagome sat watching as their home burned to ashes on the ground. By the time the dawn came their life there had been reduced to nothing more than smoke. Her arms tightened around the two small boys cradled asleep in her lap, secure and safe in her protective hold. Rin sat propped up beside her. The pup had tried to stay awake until the last of the embers died, but the chaos and excitement of the night before had drained her batteries. She'd nodded off on her guardian's shoulder sometime in

the night.

"Kagome!" The Priestess heard her name crisp and clear in the in the distance.

She didn't move as Sango appeared from the tree line, regally clad in her black and magenta hunting garb but out of breath from years of neglecting her training.

"I saw the smoke!" The retired slayer dropped her large bone boomerang—her soul bound weapon that had been hanging restlessly on the wall in their home's shrine alcove—and kneeled in front of her best friend. "Are you alright?"

Kagome looked up to meet the warm concern in Sango's chocolate brown eyes.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The demoness said quietly, so not to wake the kids. "We're okay. But Kagami's gone. And Hansha..." The calm of her voice cracked. "She didn't make it out."

"Sesshoumaru?"

She shook her head. "Still in Hokkaido with Shizume."

The older woman placed a sturdy hand on the Kitsune's shoulder before pulling her into a gentle hug. "What happened?"

"I don't—" Kagome began, fighting the tightness that threatened her breath. The sky she stared up at was a watercolor painting of pinks and oranges as she blinked away tears. "I don't really _know_. I was at the shrine when l smelled it. It went up so _fast_."

Thin bamboo and cedar paneling, tiled thatch roofing, and paper Shoji screens of traditional Japanese architecture made houses into literal tinderboxes in that dry summer heat. Edo hadn't been coined 'the city of fires' for nothing. A low burning candle or a stray spark from a traveler's campfire were all that it would have taken to set a blaze. There'd been fire warnings throughout the growing city for the past week, but nobody ever believes that _their_ home would be at risk.

Nobody believes that the life of a loved one could end before it ever truly began.

Kagome hadn't felt such defeat and helplessness in ages. Not since that first year, after the transformation from human to beast had shocked her reality and sent her spiraling.

This time around she wouldn't allow the depression to take its deep root in her life.

She wouldn't blame herself.

"I did everything I could." She said. "I did everything _right_."

However true that was, it didn't make the pain hurt any less.

Kagome relaxed in Sango's embrace and allowed herself to be coddled as she grieved.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Time seemed to pass quicker after that.

Kagome began to lose track as she spent hours each day searching for Kagami. It was an impossible task, looking for a boy who's aura, scent, and appearance could be altered without much effort—especially when that boy didn't _want_ to be found.

Sesshoumaru had deemed it hopeless from the start. Shizume helped until the last of the leaves fell from the trees and the death of winter claimed the earth once more. The children held on longer, but eventually they too gave up hope.

Before she knew it, four years had passed without so much as a hair from the little Kagemono that has so cautiously warmed to their pack. Still, Kagome kept looking. She searched for anything that could help her make sense of it all. To give up meant to give in to the path that destiny had assigned to her and accept that her freedom of choice was little more than an illusion.

"I'll be about a week." Kagome adjusted the straps of her leather satchel from where she sat in the entryway. "I've got a good feeling this time."

Ste always said that, even when it wasn't true. There was never anything good about how she felt scouring the towns and villages for a single broken child and the scarce rumors that surrounded the true demise of the Shadow Demon's clan, but the lie kept the bitterness from her tongue.

"Do you need anything? The bottom of your kettle's wearing thin, right? I'm heading north, but I could pick up a new one in the city on the way back."

Miroku frowned and leaned against the frame of the wall behind her. The laugh lines that had rightfully earned their place at the corners of his eyes over the years looked hollow and barren, like the brandies of a tree that'd been forgotten in the marshes.

"You're going so soon?"

The Kitsune hesitated, refused to look at him.

"He's out there somewhere." She said after a pause. "The longer I wait, the further he gets"

The wood on wood sliding of the main room's door drew their focus. Miroku's slouch straightened until he was as sharp as a pin. His eyebrows got lost in the wild mess of his overgrown hair.

"You shouldn't be out of bed." His voice tried to hold a firm tone, but exhaustion made it fall flat.

Sango ignored him. "You already know when he's coming back." She nearly whispered. When the Demoness shut her eyes to shake her head, the former demon slayer repeated herself, louder. "He'll find _you_ , Kagome. In your time."

Kagome stilled. Her grip on the satchel tightened as her eyes fell to the untidy mess of shoes and umbrellas near the door.

"That's what I'm afraid of." She admitted. "I haven't changed anything."

"Then stop chasing ghosts" Sango snipped. "You _know_ the future. So stay with us. Here. Now. In the present."

Each word grew heavier than the last as she spoke, but the squeal of a toddler interrupted before her voice could give from the weight. "Mommy's up!" The four year old cried as he came barreling barefoot down the wooden floors to pounce on his mother. Miroku jumped forward to wrangle the boy before the impact, but Sango had already caught him with a wince.

" _Katsutoshi_!" Tourai howled as he rounded the corner, hitting the wall as he slid. At fourteen he was tall and bulky with wide shoulders that bumped everything like a bear in a tea shop. He skidded to a stop when he got to the doorway where their mother was kneeling. He missed the toddler's triumphant smirk, instead looking past into the entry to Kagome. Big brown eyes dropped to her packed satchel and the electric energy that normally highlighted his face turned off like the flip of a

breaker.

"You're leaving again?'

Those kids were growing up so fast compared to her own flock that it made Kagome's head spin.

The twins had just turned twenty and already looked her senior. Tsuru had caught the eye of and married the son of a lesser lord and was just beginning to craft a family of her own. Matsuko had left home, following a young traveling merchant to explore the countryside and cities beyond Edo. That left Tourai, Chiyo, and Katsutoshi. Chiyo was a little tomboy—the spitting image of her freckled uncle Kohaku—and was the most recent object of Shippo's affections until she punched him in the nose. The youngest, Katsutoshi, was a dainty thin little stinker that made it abundantly clear that for him nothing was off limits

As time would see them get older and spread their own wings, Sango and Miroku's family would only continue to branch out and flourish into the fruitful mulberry tree that they had dreamed of for so long.

But life wasn't without its ups and downs.

"Enjoy what you _have_."

The quiver in the normally rock sturdy woman's voice caught Kagome off guard. But it really shouldn't have. Her nose picked up the acrid salt of the tears before she saw them.

Sango's hand fell protectively to her stomach. It was still swollen despite the recent loss of her sixth and final child.

The Kitsune's tall black ears pinned back against her tightly bound hair. She dropped her bag to the floor before dissolving the distance between them and gathered her best friend as close as she physically could without breaking the woman further. It wasn't often that Sango was the one in need of a comforting shoulder to cry on, but when she did Kagome was more than willing to provide.

Kagome brushed away the ex-slayer's sweaty hair and soothed her back. She smiled when Katsutoshi tucked his head in the crock of his mother's shoulder to help as best he could.

"I'll stay." The Priestess promised. "And l swear, the next time I go out to look will be the last."

But there never was a next time. After that Kagome permanently gave up her search for the Shadow Beast.

Even knowing that when they did eventually meet again Kagami would be out for blood.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

Kagome set the last of her bags on the back of the cart with a smile and nuzzled the cheek of the dove haired little boy at her hip.

"All set." She said with satisfaction.

"You've got everything you need?" Sango asked for the third time as she meticulously inspected the cargo.

"I think so."

"There's enough food to last until you get to the harbor?"

"Plenty. You've more than stocked us up."

"Warm blankets if the nights get cold?'

The demoness pointed to a green luggage case sitting like a beacon at the very front, right behind the second row of benches. "They re in that one, easy access"

The older woman eyed the overstuffed package with surgically sharp skepticism.

She had aged gracefully, Sango had. The wrinkles on her face were still delicate ceases and her long brown hair was kept bound high to hide the powdery roots. But her hands gave away the years. They were thin and frail, with twisted monkey knots starting to form at the knuckles from a satisfying lifetime of hard work and labor.

"Medicine for if the sea gets choppy?'

"Right." Kagome replied. "Yeah, it's..." She searched the pockets and folds of her Hakama with her free hand. It had to be there somewhere; she'd seen it on the table earlier that morning.

A small suede pouch appeared in her peripheral vision. The minty blend of herbs tickled her sinuses.

The demoness looked up at Miroku with a smile that personified bubblegum and sugar cubes.

"Thanks" Plucking the packet from his extended palm, Kagome presented her prize to the mother hen that'd been quizzing her relentlessly. "Got it! We've got everything!"

She didn't miss the glimmer of uncertainty in her best friend.

"You don't need to worry." The Black Fox eased as she handed off the quiet, thumb sucking toddler to his grandmother to occupy the woman's hands. "He'll be fine."

Sango looked unconvinced.

The moment Kagome's arms were free from the child, Miroku closed in on her, pulling the younger woman close to his chest. He grinned, head resting between her soft, lulling ears. His clothes were bathed in the rich scents of the herbs that he worked with on a daily basis. It was a scent that she knew she would never forget.

It was home.

"I'm so excited for you!" He gushed. "My little girl, off to see the world!"

"Miroku!" Kagome feigned protest. She grumbled like the college student she appeared, but made no effort to leave his warm hold. "Stop! Your kids are going to think I'm your favorite!"

"Never worry, my dear. They already know that you are!"

A wide collection of laughter erupted around them, causing her ears to perk. The air in her lungs turned into butterflies. Everyone had come to see them off—her second human family and her pack. She pushed Miroku's shaggy salt and pepper locks from her eyes and looked around to all the faces, both new and familiar. Miroku and Sango's adult children, in-laws, grand children, and a few family friends that had grown close enough to meet her as the demoness she was. There was even the three demons that had been the first to join their House of the West—one of which was the older gentleman with thin antlers that she had met tending the creatures at Sesshoumaru's manor in the future.

It had been Sango's idea that she travel, contrary to the retired slayer's nervous flittering about.

The Priestess wouldn't have even considered leaving without the prodding she'd received from the sprightlier woman—not after she'd promised to stay. Middle age seemed to have re-lit the adventurous spirit of Sango's youth, but familial obligation kept her stationary. So instead she decided that the Priestess should go out and explore different lands and cultures in her stead. Kagome had been tasked with recording her stories and reporting back frequently.

Kagome was unsure about leaving the country at first—exponentially so when Sesshoumaru had declined to accompany her—but eventually the uncontainable excitement shared between Shippo and Rin had spread to her as well.

Several months later she'd booked four seats passage on a ship out of Nagasaki, heading to mainland China.

And already it was time to leave.

While Kagome went about saying goodbye to everybody, Rin faced the young Hawk that they' d accepted into their pack almost thirty years prior. They stood back near the tree line, away from the hive of commotion.

Her hand started moving down to the tip of her braided silver hair to twirl the strands, but she clutched it to her chest instead.

He'd gotten taller than her, if only by a feather.

"I'll miss you." She told him when her tongue decided to start working.

"Yeah." Toru scratched the flyaway baby feathers that grew at the nape of his neck. "Me too."

He'd lost his voice again for a little while there after the manor burned, and when he got it back a new bite had burrowed it's way into his words. The fledgling had been so upset when Hansha died, so angry when they couldn't find Kagami. He'd always been such a passive kid that those complex emotions of his developing psyche were alien to him. He started lashing out when they overwhelmed him.

Sesshoumaru had taken to training the Tori one on one to teach him to control his temper, but Toru had already changed.

He wasn't the same delicate little boy hiding behind his mother's skirts anymore, but he was still one of her best friends.

Rin glanced over to where Kagome was surrounded by people, humans and demons alike and looked for a certain head. The splash of silver stood out like a snow bunny out of season among the browns and blacks. For once he was right in the thick of it, talking politics with the man that had married Tsuru, a lord in his own right.

"Take care of him for me?" The adolescent Dog asked of the Bird.

Toru followed her gaze to Sesshoumaru.

"Uh..." He tripped over his words, flummoxed and doubtful. "I'll try?"

Rin smiled, took two steps to close the continental gap between them and wrapped him in a blanket of warmth.

"Thank you."

Toru stiffened before melting in her arms and returning with his own, tighter, hug. His wings—oversized from his last growth spurt to the point where they dragged on the ground—stretched and shook off the dirt they'd collected. "Just you wait." He said, nose tucked away in her hair so that his voice was muffled. "When you get back, I'll be flying."

From behind them, Shippo barked with laughter.

"We're not gonna be gone long enough for miracles, Toru!"

With rolling eyes, the Hawk dropped a wing to shoot an annoyed look at the Fox over his shoulder.

"That's a shame." He retorted, words sharper than the strike of a viper. "l guess you won't get any taller, then, huh?'

"Why _you little_ —!"

But before Shippo could finish his curse, the little bird had turned and pulled the smaller demon into an embrace, much like Rin had done to him. The Kitsune's words sputtered and died somewhere in the back of his mouth before they could form. With a sigh he gave in. Shippo butted his head against his friend's shoulder and relaxed.

it was nice for a little while—a very little while—but the kit's smile faded as the seconds ticked by ever so slowly and the hug stretched uncomfortably long.

"Okay." He spoke up eventually. "That's enough."

Instead of letting go Toru puckered up his lips and leaned in, threatening to kiss the top of Shippo's wildly unbound, shoulder cropped red hair. The Fox freaked and struggled to get away, but the bigger kid's mighty hold was too strong. He was doomed! Shippo cried out in terror.

" _Get off me_! "

Behind them Rin chuckled before throwing her arms around them both, pulling them down until they had become a twisted pile of feathers and limbs laughing on the ground.

"I'm here! I'm ready!" A teenage boy's voice called from the deck of the house.

Petite and vine-thin, Katsutoshi jumped off the ledge with a stuffed bag slung over his shoulder. He took a hair ribbon from his wrist and tied his jet black hair back into a short, spiky tail.

"I hope you don't plan to be so late with your teachers!" Miroku called to him. "They will not be lenient."

Miroku and Sango had tried to keep all of their children away from mysticism and the fighting that inevitably came with it, but nobody could deny the talent of their youngest son. Once he discovered his sixth sense the boy became hungry for more knowledge. The ex-monk had only been able to teach him so much and Kagome flat out refused to become his Reiki master. All the control in the world didn't make her feel comfortable using her Miko powers with a child. Not after...

No.

She knew exactly why that had happened. And it wouldn't again.

But just in case.

When they learned about a school of monks in the mountains of China that still practiced the spiritual arts despite the lack of demons to vanquish, Katsutoshi boldly declared his intent to go.

Once an idea was planted in that stubborn kid's walnut, there was no prying it from him.

Miroku finally gave in to his child's terroristic demands when the boy turned fifteen a few months prior when Kagome had agreed to chaperone Katsu on his journey and deposit him safely at the sanctuary before continuing off on her own adventure.

"I _needed_ something." Katsutoshi huffed.

"Like what?' His older brother Tourai—father of three, heir to their parent's apothecary, and already a widower—asked with a deep laugh. "Persimmon?" The much larger, bear-like man plucked away the bag and swatted Katsutoshi's meager fight with ease.

He opened it to reveal that it was, in fact, loaded to the brim with sweet ripe persimmon from their mother's tree in the back yard.

Laughter grew around them once more.

Sango took the pack, resealed it, and deposited it back into the flustered arms of her youngest.

Her weathered hands cupped his cheeks as she smiled at him. Chocolate brown Swam with tears as she gazed into the matching set of her husband's stormy grays, but she didn't let them fall.

"My baby boy." Sango cooed as she pulled him close. His embarrassed whines were quickly smothered by ruthless love and affection. "Be safe. Train hard. You'll be great."

After waiting the minimum amount of time to be considered polite, Katsutoshi expertly extracted himself from his mother's grip, only to be absorbed instead by his father. Miroku brushed back his son's untidy bangs, pressed the boy's forehead to his chin in a brief hug, and released, setting Katsu loose to the wilds. The older man turned away so that nobody could see him turn to mush.

The young psychic avoided all of the other hands that grasped and threatened to pull him in as he wove through the crowd with his persimmon stash. The cart became his vessel as he climbed to stand proudly upon the front bench. He swung his bag in the air like a flag signaling a departing ship, drawing cheers and yips from the people below. He yelled his farewells to the wind above them all.

"Looks like that's our cue." Kagome laughed. She stood on her tiptoes to call over to the kids across the yard. "Rin! Shippo! We're heading out!"

The young demons smiled at each other. Shippo pulled Toru to his feet and the three of them jogged over to join the party.

About halfway, Rin paused.

She looked up at the great demon Dog looming tall before her. His expression was just as impervious as the first day they met. Or at least, it was until the solid glass amber of his eyes softened and the corner of his mouth quirked just a hair.

With all of the grace and poise that she could muster, the Pup bowed.

"Thank you for allowing me to accompany Kagome on this trip."

She straightened when her pointed ears caught the appreciative rumble from deep within his chest.

Almost automatically her father reached forward to adjust her hair from where it had fallen over her shoulder, moving the braid so the plait once more lay the length of her back. Then he tucked the long silver strands of her bangs behind her ear and out of her eyes, brushing the pad of his thumb across the soft velvet of her purple markings as he did.

"Do as you please."

Rin's entire face warmed with joy as she leaned into the touch.

Before he could pull away, the little Inu grabbed his hand with her much smaller ones and squeezed. The smile on her face could have lit up the night sky.

"I'll miss you father." She told him. Then, quick and gentle as a humming bird, she added. "I love you." Before breaking away to join Kagome, Shippo, and Katsutoshi at the horse drawn wagon that would start the first leg of their journey.

She left him staring at his open palm, following the rivers and lines up to the very tips of his claws The kiss of a smile broke through his mask, a flower pushing its way through concrete.

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

They visited so many different countries along their travels, eaten a world's array of food, and experienced customs so different from their own.

They spent New Year's in China—still the Ming Dynasty—heralding the year of the dog with elaborate costumes and watched in awe as a cacophony of roaring fireworks lit the night sky like the glimmering scales of an unearthly serpent. A few weeks were spent hiking small mountain passes with a band of roaming Tibetan Monks, laughing and sharing stories as if the language barrier between them did not exist. A child street performer that they had once spent a day watching taught them to dance among the fine rugs and porcelain vases in a marketplace somewhere between the Ottoman and Turkish Empires. At one point they passed through Hungary, Bohemia, and the Holy Roman Empire just to frolic the vast fields of technicolored tulips in Denmark.

The three of them moved from village to village, from city to city, like dandelion seeds floating across the land without course or direction. Only the wind knew where they'd wind up next. The only constant was that they never stayed in one place very long.

Well, they hadn't until they arrived in the Champagne hills of the Parisian countryside, because it was with France that Rin had fallen in love.

She adored the sound of their language as it transformed from playful poetry to soothing honey on their lips. She spun circles in the couture dresses that hung wide on her shoulders, exposing her bare collarbones and heavy with velvet and brocade. She loved that instead of bowing as the men did, the women and girls curtsied—a toe twirling movement that the little demoness took every opportunity to practice with acquaintances around town, strangers, and the mirror in the room where they'd been staying.

But most of all, she loved the _bread_.

The rich, wheaty scents of freshly baked bread wafting through the village woke her at dawn every morning before even the roosters would crow.

Once it became apparent that they were going to be staying in France for at least a little while, they fell into a routine. On the nights that Kagome stayed out late to satisfy her creature comforts she left coin on the table for the kids to buy breakfast. And if Rin was the first one to get up—and she usually was—that meant they would be having bread from her favorite little bakery that stood puffing the sweet smoke from its ovens into the air less than a block down the cobble street.

She'd even made a friend there.

" _Bonjour, Mademoiselle Lina_!" The young blond boy of about twelve greeted her when she opened the shop door, the little bronze bell ringing behind her. He ran the front end of the shop while his parents worked in the back in the early morning, magically working the dough that had been prepped the night before.

" _Bonjour, Jean-Luc_!"

He said something then that she only half understood as he leaned over the counter. Something about the morning sky and falcons. The Inu pup had picked up the language quickly over the few months that they'd stayed there, but her skills were about at the level of a toddler, at best, and most of what was spoken went over her head.

Jean-Luc pointed to the freshly fallen snowflakes still clinging desperately to her shoulders and bodice and mimed a shiver.

 _Flocon._ Snowflake.

"Ah!" She couldn't let him know that she hadn't noticed the frost right way because the temperature didn't affect her body the same way it did humans like him, and because her guardian wasn't home to remind her to bundle herself. Whether she wanted to tell him or not it didn't matter, she didn't know the words.

"Yes," Rin replied in her heavily accented baby French. "Very cold."

After a concerned look, Jean-Luc held up a finger asking her to hold tight for a moment before he disappeared to the back room. While he was gone the Japanese demoness searched the heavenly scented racks of warm bread for her favorites. She picked up a pair of braided knots baked with cheese and placed them alongside their fee on the counter; a single coin. That left just enough money in her pocket for the potato croquettes that she would get herself and Shippo to snack on later.

The young boy returned from the mystical room that begot the bread carrying a piece of fabric made of deep burgundy wool. The shawl was plain, without any of the adornments of fur and embroidery that would have been found in a richer household, but it was well cared for—free of tears or frays.

"Oh." She was about to refuse, but hesitated. How was rejection received in France? The last thing she wanted to do was offend him, as it was so easy to do back home. So Rin didn't push him away when he draped the garment around her. He hovered close as he made adjustments, ignoring her culturally Japanese bubble of personal space.

Jean-Luc stepped back to admire his work.

" _Belle_." He said.

The little girl blushed.

She knew _that_ word.

With a twirl, Rin showed off her new look before dropping into a flamboyantly formal curtsy.

" _Merci, Gar_ _ç_ _on_."

The bread boy pulled her dainty hand to his lips and replied something with frilly adjectives that she didn't understand in the slightest, but she figured it meant something along the lines of 'you're welcome.'

With her breakfast haul wrapped and stashed away in her shopping bag, Rin exited the shop to find Shippo lounging carelessly against the building's rough stone face. He jerked away from the cold wall with a grumble.

"I can't leave you alone for a second. Not when you flirt with every boy that looks at you."

"I wasn't flirting!" She denied.

"Oh yeah? Then what was that?" The Fox boy imitated her twirl and curtsy with exaggerated femininity and fluttering eyelashes. The buttons of his green waist coat were left wide open, which completely defeated the purpose of wearing one as it fluttered in the cold with his antics. He looked like some sort of disheveled thug.

Rin shoved her burlap sack into his arms. "He's nice."

"He _likes_ you."

Shippo smacked his lips at her when she brushed past. Then he frowned, swiped a pebble with his toe, and followed her when she didn't respond to his taunts.

"Ya know," He started, trying a different tactic. "Sesshoumaru might not like you bein' so familiar with human beings. I doubt he'd want you havin' Hanyou babies."

The once-human adolescent stumbled on the invisible barrier built by his surprisingly brash comment, but she didn't reply right away.

"Well, he wouldn't." He added, voice cracking as if the words had recoiled and smacked him in the ear.

A pink tinge stained her cheeks as they made their way home in silence. Rin considered each word with care. It was only when they reached the front step to their apartment building that she felt confident in her response. "My father trusts me." She stated, eyes firm. "He will accept whoever I fall in love with. No matter who or what they are, because he will trust me to make the right choices with my heart. Just as I hope you will."

The Kit looked at the ground, thoroughly scorned.

She bit back her embarrassment and swallowed. "But that won't be for a while."

When he didn't bounce back to his normally rambunctious self right away, she began to untie the shawl that had offended him so greatly. He needed a little taste of his own medicine.

Or, more so, her own special brand of medicine.

"In the meantime," She draped the red fabric around his neck, scruffing the messy, cropped hair of his glamour, and pulling him closer. Their noses were close to touching when the smile cracked her stern expression. "You are more than enough to keep me happy. It's cute that you're jealous, but you don't need to be. You'll _always_ come first."

Shippo tried really hard to disentangle himself from the restraints, but Rin was stronger. "Stop flirting!" He begged, blushing a furious tomato. "It's embarrassing!"

The pup threw back her head and laughed.

"I'm not!" Suddenly she released the shawl, sending him reeling backwards. When the kit caught himself from falling, Rin winked and grabbed the doorknob for a quick getaway. In a saucy tone she threw a barb in his direction.

"I only flirt with _tall_ guys!"

It took a second to sink in, but by the time Shippo was squealing through his teeth with indignance, she had already shut the door on his nose.

Just like the bread, bickering was just another part of their daily routine in France.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Kagome lay awake in the glow of twilight, cradled by the overstuffed comforter of her companion's bed. Her hand, fingers glamoured to be tipped with blunt, squared nails as opposed to their usual stiletto claws, ran down the length of her partner's side. She traced each soft curve and deep mountain valley that planed the bare body until coming to rest at the woman's hipbone.

Without Sesshoumaru beside her, the Kitsune was forced to come up with new means of satisfying her demonic urges. Kagome knew it was bound to happen eventually. The Dog had no obligations to stay attached to her hip for the rest of their lives—especially since he had Shizume to spar with on a regular basis. She needed to learn how to survive—to _thrive_ —on her own. Only then would she be free and self-sustainable in her new skin.

 _New._ Hah!

She'd already been a demon twice as long as she had been human. It really didn't feel like forty years had passed, but she supposed that was just what it was like when you had a lifespan that outlived nations.

Finding human lovers had proved to be trickier than she'd anticipated.

There were two types of men in the late 1500s, the demoness had come to find out in their travels. Men who saw her as a whore and treated her no better, and men who expected her to swoon, marry, and settle into the role of housewife at the barest glimmer of interest. Thanks in part to her 'exotic' appearance—disguising herself as European was foolish with her accent—the first half tended to be more prevalent.

You could say that they were temporally incompatible with her modern sensibilities.

Hell, _Sesshoumaru_ was more egalitarian than any of the men she'd met.

Kagome refused to be treated as an object to be sexualized just as vehemently as she refused to let herself fall in love with a human. Not yet, at least. Not until she was willing to accept the consequences, if that time ever came.

The thought of being a helpless bystander, only able to watch as aged drained the life from her lover each day while she remained the same was a fear that she never had when the roles were reversed and Inuyasha had been the one destined to outlive her. It gave her a newfound respect for the half breed that had introduced her to that world of the supernatural. To offer your heart, whole and pure, to someone knowing that the scars of loss would remain with you for thousands of years?

That required a special kind of love, not the kind that the young Fox was ready to seek out.

So, instead, Kagome drifted to the opposite sex.

She was not romantically attracted to women, so there was no passion or romance involved in the relationships she built in France. Only comfort.

The Priestess became pillow sisters with noble ladies and village women alike who sought someone to vent their lives and worries with; she became someone to share gentleness in the stolen moments between the roughness of their loveless marriages

By that point she had been Estelle's mistress for two years and she greatly enjoyed the Baroness' chatty company, but Kagome knew that their time together was quickly drawing near its end.

The longer she stayed there, warming her bed while Estelle's husband was away, the greater risk there was of her true identity being discovered.

With a long, cat-like stretch, Kagome inched away from the woman's body and the delightful static sensation that it provided until her legs were dangling from the raised bed. From the bedpost she grabbed a sheer silk robe to cover her nude skin before crossing the room to the dressing table mantle where a maid had laid out mail perhaps an hour before. In the pile was a letter from Sango, instantly recognizable by its dual set if writing; her native Japanese and the much scragglier Roman script of the

address that Kagome had given her.

The Kitsune smiled.

They shared letters as often as possible, but that was not as often as she would have preferred with Japan being isolated from free trade and communication with the rest of the world. What she wouldn't have given for a telephone! Instead, they had to bribe a charter in Nagasaki to let their noes pass through once a month.

Her smile didn't last, however, as she opened the envelope to read the tri-folded parchment inside.

Miroku had fallen ill, Sango's shakier-than-usual calligraphy read. He'd caught a winter's cough that refused any and all of the treatments they provided him. It left him lethargic and bedridden.

' _I don't believe he'll last the month, and that scares me.'_ The near elderly demon slayer confided as she ended her letter. _'Miroku says he loves you. '_

A stray tear fell on the paper gripped tight in her hands, smudging one of the characters in forked branches of ink.

Without a second thought, Kagome began to gather her meager personal items in preparation of her departure. If she ran back to the apartment and got the children to help her pack, they could be on the next boat by dawn. She threw on her dress and cloak from the night before and started for the door, but a sleep fogged voice stopped her.

"Are you leaving?"

The Miko looked back to the bed where Estelle was propped on her elbows and watching like an owl. The moonlight set her blonde curls ablaze with platinum light as they snaked down the bare of her back. Kagome walked over to the woman to tuck one of those glowing strands behind her ear.

"Yes, I'm leaving."

"You're not coming back are you?"

There was no accusation in the Baroness' words, but they felt like a rubber band striking the soft inside of Kagome's wrist all the same and left the same fine sting.

She leaned in to place a soft kiss on the beautiful young woman's cheek.

"I don't think so, no."

Blue eyes searched her own, and when she smiled Kagome could see that Estelle had also accepted the inevitability of her Japanese mistress' departure.

"Thank you, for the time we've spent." The Frenchwoman said. "Don't worry for me, I'll be fine now."

Thanks to Kagome, Estelle was not the same timid fawn that she had been when they first met. And she _would_ be fine. At least for a moment, while the army kept her husband at bay. And that was all she could hope for.

With a dewy nod, Kagome agreed.

Then, after saying goodbye to the woman that had kept her company for two years, the disguised demoness walked out that bedroom door for the last time.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

Kagome and the kids didn't make it back to Japan in time to see Miroku off before he died from the pneumonia. Instead of wallowing in the guilt that it left inside of her, the Priestess made the late Monk a promise—to not leave Sango's side for the remainder of the time that she had left on earth.

She kept to her word like it was scripture.

Kagome and Shippo moved into one of the spare bedrooms in the extensive manor that had once been nothing more than a modest shack. She helped to cook meals for Tourai's family alongside his second wife and ensured that Miroku's beloved home remained clean and well kept. When Sango became too frail to walk on her own, the young demoness became her support.

Together they talked endlessly; reminiscing about the past, dreaming about the future, shooting the breeze about nothing more than the birds in the sky. The crotchety old Fire Cat would curl up in her owner's lap as they sat on the deck watching the flowers dance in the breeze, and they would _laugh_.

Sango's last days were full of happiness.

When it was her time to bid farewell to the mortal flesh and move ahead to the Spirit World, she was surrounded by all of her loved ones. Dozens had come to say goodbye, all of her children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren sat with her and spoke softly one by one.

Throughout it all, Kagome never once left her side.

And when Sango passed, it was with a smile on her lips.

As the family members around her began to cry and seek each other out for comfort, the Kitsune stood up. They let her through without a word; respecting the fact that she'd known their matriarch the longest of them all and no doubt needed time alone. She left the room and its inhabitants, sliding the door shut behind her with barely a whisper of air.

Kagome waked over to the stoic Dog demon that'd been lingering on the back deck for nearly an hour, leaning casually against a thick support beam. She didn't say anything to him, only dropper her head and burrowed her sagging ears into his chest, long black tail curled around her thighs. Her tears fell without the trembling and theatrics that once accompanied them.

She lost her best friend again.

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arm around her, placed his hand at the back of her neck, and allowed her to remain there for as long as she pleased.

After the funeral, Kagome took a visit to the old storehouse that she still owned in the city—the building that had once belonged to Kaede. It was nearly decrepit compared to the newer homes surrounding it and more than a little dusty. There were parcels and boxes scattered about that hadn't been touched in who knew how long, but the one that she had gone there for wasn't among them.

The Priestess set her finely wrapped package to the floor before she went about searching for the loose floorboards that acted as a hidden door to the crawl space beneath. In it was a simple chest coated in a black lacquer and about four millimeters of dust. She looked back over at the package that had just been given to her—looked at Sango's demon hunting garb and armor that was wrapped like a precious national treasure.

Then she took in a deep, sinus clearing breath.

The shard hunting group was officially gone.

' _What do I do now?'_

It was not even a second after the thought crossed her mind that tiny wisps of light began to shine from the seams of the box below the floor. The Fox wiped her eyes with the back of her arm to brush away the illusion, but the glow remained.

Suddenly— _frantically_ —Kagome pulled the box from its hidey-hole and fumbled the key from her obi. The hinges creaked and cringed. inside were several smaller containers and wrapped keepsakes, but only one of which was glowing from within—the small wooden box that held her original trinkets from home: a brass button from her borrowed uniform, a bracelet woven from Demon Realm grasses, a hair comb made of significantly higher quality materials than what the street vendor had been selling, two small seeds laced with finely sealed demonic power, and of course—

She removed the lid from the box to set the light free.

—The Jewel.

The violently pink gemstone felt heavy in her hands when she picked it up. It was freezing cold, as if it was sucking the heat from her skin and the air around her into the swirling vortex of deep space. It was the exact same sensation that she had felt when the dead bobble had returned to life before, just long enough to open the portal she needed.

It wanted to take her somewhere, to the next step in her destiny.

"Wait!" Kagome sprang up on her knees and rifled elbows deep in box in front of her.

When she got to her feet, the smaller keepsake box was in her arms alongside the _Guardian of the Realms_ handbook; the pages were cottony and yellowed from years of flipping through the long since memorized material.

"Okay," She said with an iron sturdy voice. "I'm ready. Take me where I need to go."

She apologized to Shippo in the back of her head as the portal sprang into existence, glowing and shimmering pink like dense glitter in one of those tabletop tornadoes you made as a kid with a mason jar. She wouldn't be taking him along this time.

Whatever the Shikon Jewel had in store for her, it wanted her to go alone.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

The hallway where Kagome had been deposited was dimly lit by a soft, unseen light source. It was just bright enough to showcase the intimidatingly tall blood-black walls and the spine-like supports looming ominously on the ceiling above her.

A throat. She was standing in a throat.

Not a literal throat, just a hall designed to look an awful lot like one.

Kagome tucked the jewelry box in the folds of her black mourning Kimono with its small white crests and propped open her manual, hiding Koenma's smiling portrait in the crook of her elbow. Towards the back of the bound packet she unfolded one of the accordion pages of blueprints. The tip of her undisguised claw traced the length of a labyrinthine passage aptly named the Devil's Maw. It was the entry corridor to the Spirit Realm's receiving gate. A footnote at the bottom of the page warned her that it was almost impossible to navigate without an experienced guide.

Well, luckily for her she had a map.

It took a couple of minutes for her to get her bearings and figure out where exactly in the maze she was, but soon enough she was navigating the winding corridors with ease. Five left turns and a right later her sensitive ears began to pick up the raucous sounds of the workers beyond.

When Kagome entered the cavernous work space, the ogres didn't notice her right away. They went about their business, carting important files and paperwork to and fro with unrivaled urgency. Many were sitting before low desks, writing notes on glowing parchments before sending them off on will-o-the-wisps. There were even a few of the soul snatchers like the ones Kikyou had employed to her personal service, swimming lazily in the air until being given a task.

One by one the spirit ogres noticed her arrival as she made her way across the room, her head held high as if she wasn't at all out of place in that Realm.

A red man screamed, claiming a demon invasion, while the majority of the officers fell into a whisper-of-the-dead silence. They chose to cower behind their desks and books rather than to confront the demoness come to conquer them all.

The clicking of Kagome's wooden Geta sandals echoed off the walls in the quiet as if she were walking alone in an empty amphitheater. Stretching to the impossibly high ceiling, the mahogany wood doors of Koenma's office were enormous and they echoed just as loudly when she knocked.

The way-station ogres waited with bated breath as the door was opened from within by another unsuspecting ogre.

There was silence. And then—

"We don't have all day! For cripes sake, Ogre, get in here! What have I told you? You don't need to knock every single time you return to my office!" The horned green ogre holding the door stared at the vixen slack-jawed as the child's voice reverberated through the space. "I swear! Working with you is like working with a _puppy!_ You _did_ receive your basic training already, didn't you?"

"Sir..." The green guy found his trembling voice as Kagome entered the office.

"Oh! This is a _mess!"_ A paper flew from the young ruler's desk. "It's an absolute madhouse down there! Those three are at it again! We simply _cannot_ have a Realm without Spirit World representation! Tell me, Ogre, have we received word from the—"

"Lord _Koenma."_ The ogre tried again. He was older, with wispy brown hair combed over his mostly bald head. He scrambled to grab the door when it slipped from his grip.

"Have we received word or not? Its been _five days!_ Don't tell me we've lost another—"

" _Sir!_ "

" _What,_ Kal!?"

The child demigod finally looked up from his mountain of paperwork. The empty teacup that he'd been waving furiously to emphasize his point fell from his chubby hand and split into three pieces when it hit his desk.

Politely, though a _bit_ late, Kagome cleared her throat.

She assumed that he'd be younger, naturally. But she was absolutely not prepared to see the secondary ruler of Reikai reigning with an iron fist, as a toddler. He barely reached her knee, _with_ the hat on! But the bib was the cherry on top.

Just as the Fox was pretty certain that the diminutive deity was about to scream, another set of footsteps came clapping down the hallway.

"Lord Koenma!" The young voice of the blue ogre, fresh out of schooling, had called out in a panic. "Sir! There's a _demon_ on the premises!" He didn't stop running until he was in the little Lord's office, and nobody else tried to stopped him, either.

He froze when he rounded to the desk and came nose to nose with the beast in question. "Ah!" He yelled, startled, before he laughed awkwardly and scratched at his head full of blonde hair. His face went as pale as the ghosts they serviced. "Well, here you are! Pardon the intrusion, but I don't think you're supposed to be—"

"Ogre!" The toddler finally broke from his stupor to snap. " _Can it!"_

"Yes, my Lord, Sir. Canning things right away, sir!"

Jorge shrieked and backpedaled when an inkstone was chucked in his direction.

"I'm sorry to arrive unannounced." Kagome said once Kal had dragged his apprentice from the room. "I didn't exactly have much warning, myself." She thought back to the countless times she'd imagined this meeting, of the introductions and speeches she prepared. But nothing came to her. Where did she even begin? From the past? From the future?

Luckily, Koenma already had it covered.

"You're not just any demon." The toddler squinted and sized her up before his eyes became as wide as dinner plates. He squawked and jumped to stand atop his desk. "You're Kagome Higurashi! The guardian of the Shikon no Tama! Oh, wow! We were all rooting for you in your fight against Naraku! Well, everyone except _Kal_. He kept worrying that you'd lose and Japan would crumble under the chaos and bloodshed that was bound to happen in the wake of that monster's terrible uprising!"

"That was _you,_ Sir." The ogre called from the other side of the open door.

His eyebrow twitched from his underling's outburst, but he didn't reward the assistant with a response. "In any case, why are you here? How did you even get to this place?"

The Priestess touched the pink gem, hanging back in its rightful place against her collarbone. "The Jewel brought me here. I think it wanted me to meet you." Then she filled him in on the details he'd missed—what he hadn't seen with his giant seer's mirror hanging on the wall behind them during their battles with Naraku. Sure, he had known that she disappeared within the strange well fairly often, but he never knew to where.

"The _future,_ you say?" The child Koenma hummed, his arms crossed as he listened to the Kitsune's unbelievable tale. "I didn't know _anything_ about that. _Oh!"_ He said, with a distressed huff. _"_ I know I shouldn't ask. But I just need to know. Can you tell me about it? The future?"

The edge of her guidebook pinched her chest when she gripped it tighter. "I don't know how much I can say." She admitted. Then, her expression brightened a bit when she remembered something that she could share with the boy ruler. She stepped closer to place the packet portrait side down on the desk and extracted the small wooden box from where it was hidden. The beautiful gold and jade hair comb was cool to the touch when she picked it from within. Like an offering to a shrine god, she held the trinket out to him. "You gave this to me— _will_ give this to me, in about four hundred and fifty years."

Koenma inspected the trinket and gaped. "That's an _artifice!"_

Kagome withdrew her hand. "A what?"

"An artifice." He explained, blue pacifier bobbing up and down with excitement. "It's an everyday object that holds a secret message, concealed so that only the intended recipient is able to sense that its there. We've been using them in the Spirit World for ages! They're very helpful when you're trying to plan a surprise birthday party. But they get lost easily, so we were thinking of phasing them out."

"If you can sense it, does that mean that the message is meant for you?"

"I suppose it does." He replied.

That sneaky twat.

"Then, I guess," Kagome twisted the metal teeth of the comb between her fingers before handing it out to him once more. "I've come to deliver you a message, from yourself in the future."

Ever so carefully, as if he were an action hero moving to cut the correct wire on a ticking bomb in one of Kuwabara's favorite movies, Koenma reached towards the comb. As soon as the tip of his little index finger touched it, the entire piece became engulfed in a translucent glow. Light shot upwards from the stone and within it appeared the hazy holographic projection of a the teenage Koenma in miniature.

"Oooh!" The toddler version ogled. "That's a _fancy_ artifice."

The demoness set the comb on the desk between them.

Koenma bent down to wave his fingers through the light, his eyes sparkling with glee. "Is that _me?_ Look at how dashing I am! And so tall!"

Kagome couldn't help it. She shushed him like a chatty child in a movie theater.

" _Hello, Kagome."_ The holo-Koenma addressed the demoness. _"It seems that we have finally met for the first time, chronologically speaking. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest sympathies for your loss. However, I would like to assure you that your dear friends, Miroku and Sango, have already been reunited on the path that they have chosen in the afterlife and are being well cared for._

" _I understand that those files I've sent with you have left you feeling confused, because they didn't come with instructions. But I cannot tell you how to use that information, that is something that you will come to learn on your own. Do know that the knowledge of the future is yours and yours alone, so share it with discretion. You are the Guardian of the Realms, now, so it is your duty to ensure that all three of the worlds remain intact and safe from those who wish to do them harm. Feel free to use—or_ create— _any of the means that I have at my disposal to do so._

" _Koenma,"_ He shifted to the third person to address his younger self. _"From this point on the two of you will be working together. You should think of her as an adviser—one of the best you'll ever have. Take her word for truth and trust her instincts. But whatever you do, do not try to tie her down. Kagome has her own life to live and dreams to fulfill. She has the means to visit you whenever the need arises._

" _The Jewel itself is connected to the Realms, Kagome, so keep it safe. You now have complete access to each of the worlds, unhindered by any barriers placed between them. We are still not completely sure why the Jewel restricted this power from you for so long, but we believe it was likely do to your strong, familial, ties to your teammates; it bound your soul to the mortal Realm more than any other. Now, you are of all three, without bias._

" _I wish you luck in your endeavors and the years that await you. I would say that I look forward to meeting you again, but seeing as you're the one filming this, I assume that would be unnecessary."_ The tiny Koenma laughed at something that was said off camera.

The focus of the hologram shakily shifted from Makai's Prince as if someone had picked the recording device off its tripod and started walking with it.

" _Shizume, stop."_

" _Stand there."_

" _You know she's not supposed to see me."_

" _I would believe no video note such as this without proof."_

Her own voice was laughing, Kagome realized, and sounded perhaps a bit huskier. The movement stopped, leaving a blur in the projection.

" _Good, now say something."_

Clumsily the video feed came into focus. There she was, ears and all, standing beside the son of Enma wearing that pleated blue skirt and military jacket. Hair just as long, tail just as fluffy. But maybe a smidge taller.

" _Kagome."_ Her future self said with a confidant smile, even as glanced over to glare at Shizume off camera. _"We've got this."_

" _Peace!"_ Koenma added as he through his arm around future Kagome's shoulder and lifted his middle and forefingers in the air. After another bell ringing laugh, the Kitsune added her own peace sign before the hologram's power cut out.

Kagome stood silently before the desk, staring at the comb lying there so innocently. All that time she had a message from herself, but didn't know.

"Can we replay it?" She found herself asking.

"Unfortunately no." The toddler Koenma, sounding just as disappointing as she felt about that fact. "Its magic is used up."

She burned it into her memory, that image of their future selves.

Once she was satisfied and ready to move on, the Priestess looked up at the small child. His feet were perched on a small stack of papers so that they met eye to eye. "It looks like we're going to be working together from now on." She said, echoing the words that were spoken in the recording.

"So it would seem." He replied, holding his chin.

"So, does there happen to be anything that I can I advise you on?"

"As a matter of fact." Koenma looked tense. His familiar fresh water scent betrayed his nerves. "There are these three upstarts causing a real commotion in Makai. They were powerful before the separation, but _now_ they're out for blood. One of them is building an army to try and take down the barrier so they can get to the humans. I've sent scouts to their world but so far none have returned. What we _need_ is something to keep the barrier from getting holes, something on our side."

"What about the Spirit Defense Force? Isn't that partly their job?"

"The What force?"

"They should definitely exist by now." The priestess grabbed her book of files and flipped to the correct section.

The year of the SDF's creation jumped out at her as if it were highlighted in florescent pink. Probably because it was.

It read the current year.

That was how Kagome understood her job description as the Guardian of the Realms a bit better.

"I know exactly what you need, but you'll need to speak to your father about this matter. This is something that he'll need to approve, since they'll be working under him."

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

 **Chapter Seven: End**

 **(Welcome back to 'Crying with Demons!' I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter because it'll probably be the longest one I'll write. 10K GUYS. 10K! And we're _so close,_ peeps! _So_ close to being back to where everybody wants to be: the present! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Until next time! ~Tsarashi) **


	8. Wolf Song

**(Tsarashi – So... this chapter was a long time coming. It was a hard one for me to write. And I know it'll probably be a hard one to read. So I apologize in advance. Ends needed tying before we could get back to the present.)**

 **Chapter Eight: Wolf Song**

 **Edo Period, The Spirit Realm**

Kagome took a breath through her nose and thought over the move she was about to make, the world of a change that she was about to ask of her pack.

Would they be as ready for it as she thought they were?

She looked down at the smooth metal tube that she'd been twirling between her fingers as she stood beside Koenma's too-large desk. It was her shiny new 'communicator.' Or, at the very least, it was a temporary one until the child Prince was able to secure a collection of water mirrors that would allow them to speak across the realms face to face once they were calibrated to the larger seer's mirror in his office. The thing in her hands was little more than a bronze whistle, not unlike a silent dog-call. But instead of calling a lost pet, it summoned ethereal soul snatchers from the other world to pick up her handwritten letters and updates for Koenma; they were like supernatural messenger pigeons.

"I'll pop in soon to see how the recruitment goes." The priestess eventually said. The little demigod had agreed that building the Spirit Defense Force was the best course of action, and they had just spent the past couple hours going over the potential workings of the team structure and drafting a proposal for Koenma to present to his father.

They came to the conclusion early on that it was in their best interests to keep Kagome's influential existence away from Lord Enma's knowledge for as long as possible. The Prince could be trusted to give the Fox her space and not press for more information than absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, neither of them could say the same of the senior deity.

So she took on the job as his secret agent and adviser.

"Are you certain you're ready to do this?"

"Yeah. It's pretty overdue."

"Do you know how to get back to the Mortal Realm? I could call for a guide."

"No, the less that know about me the better. And I think I know how this thing works."

Taking hold of the dormant Jewel hanging around her neck, Kagome focused on the strongest connection she had back on Earth, the aura that she knew like the backside of her hand. With just her touch and intent, the gateway opened as easily as it had back in the shed.

"See?" She smiled, and repeated the words that her future self had said. "I've got this."

"Be safe out there, Kagome." The young Koenma said from where he stood on the floor beside her. His eyebrows furrowed with concern.

The Priestess nodded, bowed her farewell, and took the step through the first portal she'd ever created by her own free will.

On the other side Kagome was in an ally. Somewhere deep within the back streets of Edo, but close enough to the river to hear the water.

Her little boy spun to face her; the cloak he was wearing fell to reveal his shock of long red hair.

"Ma!" Relief filled him, but he quickly pushed it back to put on his best stern face. Shippo crossed his arms. "Where have you been!? Your aura just— _poof_ —disappeared without a warning. _Sesshoumaru_ said to leave you be, but it really freaked me out! You've been gone for hours! Your scent just stopped short, as if you'd been spirited—"

The Kitsune child froze when he caught sight of the portal behind her, just before it blinked away.

He'd done quite well disguising his demonic appendages with his own glamour, but the hair remained its carroty orange.

Next to him, the disguise he put on Rin was flawless; Shippo had even helped her tie her long black hair up before they went out so that she blended in with the other village girls. But it seemed the kit ran out of juice by the time he got to Toru. Or, more likely, he'd skimped on purpose just to spite the hawkling. Toru was glowering against a wall, looking like a sour hunchback of Notre Dame with one of the adult's cloaks draped over his curled wings and tied under his chin.

Only the Kitsune had the ability to create glamours. So without her or Shippo to disguise them, the others were forced to seclude themselves away from anywhere there might be humans. Or risk being discovered. Sango and her family were Shizume and Sesshoumaru's only tie to civilization and manufactured supplies the entire time she and the kids were away on their travels. Without them they would have been completely cut off.

It wasn't fair or convenient for any of them there.

And that only hardened Kagome's resolve.

Shippo lifted his little nose in the air. "That... smells like Botan."

"It smells like the Spirit World."

His arms fell loose to his sides, then clutched to his chest in excitement as he looked up at his mother, eyes filed with wonder. "You finally got it to work! Did you see Botan!?"

"No, but I did see Koenma. Would you believe me if I told you he was a toddler?"

"Seriously!?"

The Priestess chuckled and placed her hands on her thighs so that she was eye level with the children. She didn't need to bend far. Shippo, the smallest of the three, was already in line with her shoulders. "Lets all go back to San—to _Tourai's_ house. I'll tell you all about it. And then, maybe, we can start packing to head somewhere new?"

The little kit's eyes widened when he grasped what his mother figure meant. "We're... going over there, aren't we?"

Kagome half nodded. "Well, I have to ask Sesshoumaru first..."

A wicked grin split Shippo's face before he cheered.

"Rin!" He turned to hug his best friend. "You're going to love it! It's _so cool!"_

Startled, the little pup pushed him away to an arm's length. "Slow down, will you? Where are we going?"

"We're going to the Demon Realm!"

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

After talking it over with Sesshoumaru and the others, they all accepted that it was time they found their place and settled into the Demon Realm.

Life in the Human World had become more and more constricted, cities were expanding at a rapid pace and the number of places where they were free to be without Glamour or restricting wards were diminishing. Kagome didn't necessarily mind that—it wasn't difficult for her to blend in among the mortals, after all—and she'd more than expected it, but she saw the strain and irritation that it was causing her older companions. They'd restrained their true natures for so long and even the ones who didn't have wings needed to stretch their wings.

The move didn't come without its own risks. Chaos and disorder reigned as Yomi, Makuro, and Raisen defended the territories that they'd claimed as their own. But according to the Guardian's Manual that would settle soon enough as they came to a stalemate. There was still plenty of unclaimed land on the fringes of the main settlements, and even more into the deeper levels of the Realm. Far enough from those three partitions that Spirit World would be monitoring with upcoming technologies—that she would be monitoring for Koenma.

The benefits outweighed the risks tenfold, especially if they kept a low profile and didn't interfere in the power struggle. The promise of meeting familiar faces and old friends again was the biggest influence in her decision to leave so soon after Sango's passing.

It'd only been a week. Just enough time for them to settle their personal effects within the storehouse, familiarize themselves with Kagome's map of Makai, and prepare themselves.

When the day came to leave it was bright and sunny. They gathered outside the expansive home that Miroku and Sango had risen from the ground up alongside their six children. Unlike the times before, they didn't make a spectacle of leaving. It wasn't for good. Not for her, at least. She would still return from time to time to get their things and visit. Perhaps even renovate Kaede's shed into something more practical. She had a fast pass between the realms, after all, and they were just a thought away. So Tourai and his family were the only ones to see them off.

The Priestess closed her eyes to feel the sun on her face, focused on the Shikon no Tama and the new power it was lending her. She grasped at the memory of a face and energy signal she hadn't seen in fifty years and prayed that it would work.

The portal opened without hesitation.

A knot tied in her chest where her heart had been. Beyond the gateway was what looked like a barren wasteland. Nothing but rocks and red hot sand and sun. It was brighter than the Human Realm's summer light. The scorching wind held the slight scent of blood interwoven with electric, burning energy.

The humans, already standing a distance from the portal, recoiled as if the air itself caused them discomfort. Tourai shielded the youngest of his children.

As they'd planned, Shizume and Tomo, a young lightning eater that was their newest recruit, rushed through to guard the mortal side from any potential intruders. Sesshoumaru went through next, stepping across the dimensions with grace and poise. Then went the kids and Jaken, herded by the horned Jiro and half demon Shiori. AhUn flanked the rear.

Kagome bid Tourai and his own farewell before she entered last to the world that her involvement in the past had helped to create. The portal blinked shut behind her, shuttering the current of demonic wind.

They were the only ones in the deep, hot valley.

Which was wrong. He should have been there; it should have taken her right to him.

Unless he was already...

An aura appeared then, flaring with vigor and coming in quick from downwind. She looked up at the rocky ledge, shielding her sensitive eyes from against the glare of the red sun and made out a plume of dust.

Could it really be? She didn't want to believe it, didn't want to get her hopes up.

But her hopes were already way in the sky above her.

"Kagome?" His voice called down to her.

Kagome brushed past her packmates to stand at the head. She waited without reply, just so that she could head his voice again.

" _Kagome!"_

"It's him, Kagome!" Shippo exclaimed.

Oh, for the love of everything that was right in the world! It was him! He was still alive!

"Koga!"

They ran to meet one another, the wolf skidding down the steep, treacherous terrain until they collided somewhere in the middle. He swung her up into his bare, tan arms, hands gripped tight to hair and shoulder and hip as if fearing she'd disappear the moment he let go. The intensity of his stare was in juxtaposition with his wide, unabashed smile as took her in, from socked toes to tail to large pointed ears.

"How'd you get here? You stayed behind." He asked, then shook his head. "Who cares how. You're _here."_

Warm to the touch, his nose pressed into the crook of her neck to breathe in her scent and skin and joy. And he was heat and earth and the musk of sweat. And there was something else there, something almost sour, but Kagome chalked it up to the odd taint of the Makai wind.

"You reek like a dog." He said to her jugular.

Kagome laughed and wrapped her arms around him, too happy to form words.

When he eventually separated himself from the cover of her hair, the Wolf looked over to her companions and took inventory of them for the first time. His gaze hardened when it fell on Sesshoumaru, who was examining the ridge and not their friendly display. He shifted Kagome in his arms, confidently, possessively. And he grinned.

"What, you're just going to give her up that easily, Lord Sesshoumaru? I didn't think you were that big of a fool. She's _my_ woman, she always has been. You should have claimed her when you had the chance, because now you're going to have to pry her from my cold, dead hands."

The Inu youkai ignored his baiting. "Have you secured lands in Makai?"

"What of your pack?" Shizume added.

Koga looked between them. He set the Kitsune back on her feet, but didn't let her go. "We lost a lot of good men in the transition. Lot of kids too. Mostly kids. An entire generation, just gone."

His voice was pained. The pack was his everything. Each death would have cut him as deeply as if they were his own flesh and blood. "It happened to the other clans too, so we banded together. All four of us are working as one now, if you can believe that. Even the Wolves from the _South_. Safety in numbers. We haven't been able to stay in one place very long; land's a hot commodity that can get you ripped to ribbons over in these parts, and none of it's been worth the trouble. But we just found a spot I sorta like, maybe even enough to fight for: far enough from those crazy bastards at the center and their manic followers, and clear away from the hell holes that the real freak-shows have hidden away in. We've built up the pack enough that we might even have a fighting chance at keeping the place."

"Speaking of building packs" He regarded the odd collection behind the Dog. "This is quite the piece of work you've got started. A Cardinal Lord, a general's wife, another half-breed, and a deer? Really, a _deer_? How the heck did you convince a deer to join a bunch of canines? That's definitely your handiwork, Kagome. Your magic touch. Well?" He looked back to the young demoness in his arms. "Aren't you gonna introduce... why are you crying?"

Shaking her head, the Priestess hid her face in the scrappy fur vest he Was wearing. "I'm so happy you're alive. I've missed you so much."

"Don't worry. I'm still here." Koga's hands were gentle when he ran his fingers through her long hair and cupped the back of her neck. "I can live again, now that my woman has returned to me." He rested his brow against her head and closed his eyes. The next words he spoke were quiet, for her ears only. "I've been so lost without you, Kagome. I'd started to accept that I'd never see you again. Tell me I'm not hallucinating. You're really here, right? I'm not starting to see things? It wouldn't be the first time."

"I'm really here, Koga. I'm really, _finally_ here."

Relief. "Oh, good."

Ginta and Hakkaku crested the ridge then, followed closely by a female Wolf with hair that was black and shaved short, save for the braids tied high at her crown. She wore voluptuous grey furs.

"Koga! At least give warning when you turn around like that!" Ginta drew short, his eyes growing wide. "Sis?"

"Sis!" The mohawked Ookami called out from beside him.

"Sis!" They echoed together.

Rocks gave way beneath them as they rushed and stumbled down the valley slope. Dust coated their sun-kissed skin when they reached their pack leader. Kagome laughed and accepted their embrace with warm, welcome arms.

Shortly after, more wolves arrived, and then more after that until two dozen demons, both humanoid and animalistic, regarded them from afar. At least a quarter of them recognized her. They shouted yips of greetings and exuberant relief. Their excitement spread to the others.

Shizume and the younglings gazed around them in awe at the display.

Just like that, they were accepted as allies to the Wolf pack of the Demon Realm.

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

Toru stood off to the side while Kagome and the others were introduced to each and every member of Koga's pack.

He had expected there to be hundreds of wolves, with the way Koga talked them up on the way over to outcropping of caves that they were occupying, nearly hidden in the semiarid desert landscape, but there were less than sixty. Half of which were lesser Wolves, in their animalistic form. Of the remaining humanoids, the women nearly outnumbered the men two to one. For supposedly being made up of four separate clans, it was a pretty sorry lot.

Still, there was no way Toru was going to remember all of their names, so there was no point in overwhelming himself by trying to meet them all at once. Large gatherings weren't his forte.

He tried to keep his distance, but Wolves weren't known for respecting the personal space of a newcomer.

As soon as they had their fill of Kagome, he was surrounded by them. The four legged kind. He stiffened. They sniffed him, wet noses nudged under his sleeves and pant legs to touch skin. Heebie-jeebies ran down his spine. Every one of his feathers stuck on end.

He probably smelled like a snack.

"Stop that." The preteen hissed and tried to push them away without drawing attention.

He held back a shriek when they knocked him off balance. Seriously! Were they memorizing his scent or actually trying to eat him!? Deep breaths held his temper at bay as he crawled arm over arm across the reeking fur-ridden cave floor to get away from the creatures that were muzzle deep in his speckled feathers.

Tiny feet blocked his path to freedom.

The little Bird looked up at the even smaller blockade.

A child, no, a _toddler_ stood before him. It was a mangy thing in a loin cloth with a curling mop of cherry red hair and a short, swishing tail.

Toru didn't like the hungry look in its eyes.

Before he could scramble to his knees the mongrel pounced like a lion on a gazelle. It took a lot of willpower not to shake it off, potentially hurting one of Kagome's friends.

Willpower flew out the window when the brat sank it's fangs into his wing.

Toru yelled. He was just about to throw the stupid little beast out the cave mouth and over the rocky ledge when an adult swooped in to the rescue. The furry wolves scattered. Teeth released when the toddler was grabbed by the scruff of the neck. The removal of an oversized flea would have been more pleasant.

" _Hey_." The man with the tall silver mohawk chided. "Don't bite the Bird."

"Hakkaku, dinner?" The cub asked. "I like bird."

" _No_. Not dinner. Friend."

Confusion scrunched the child's pouty lips. "Dinner, friend?"

"Not _dinner_. Only friend." The man looked near about ready to pull out his hair. "See that Fox?" He pointed across the cave where the Shikon Priestess was still flocked with acquaintances both new and old but eyeing them with concern. "That's Kagome. She's _pack_. These guys are _her_ pack, which makes them our friends and allies."

That little red tail stopped wagging to tuck between his legs.

"Bird... pack?"

The man's hand slid down his face and he heaved a sigh. "Yeah, sure. If that'll make you stop tryin' to eat Kagome's pals, then _sure_. The Birds are pack. Don't eat them."

"That's an awfully big declaration."

Toru bristled with embarrassment at the sound of his mother's authoritative voice. He brushed her hand away when she reached down to help him back to his feet. He was perfectly capable of getting up on his own.

Shizume didn't seem at all affronted. Instead she smiled.

"Is that not something that should be decided by your leader?"

The Hawk peered up at his mother after brushing fur from his pants. Lots of fur. She loomed tall, eye to eye with the silver Wolf.

"Well, I didn't mean..." The man stuttered. "I'm not makin' it formal or anything. I just didn't want this one gnawin' the feathers off anyone important to Sis. The little ones haven't met any non-wolf allies yet, so it's confusing. If Koga doesn't like it, I'll take the blame."

"How very noble of you."

The Ookami laughed. "Is this one yours, then? Spirited little guy, ain't he?" Toru glared at his patronization. "Kid's sturdy, that's fer sure. You and your mate must be proud."

"Yes." She replied, calm and cool. The second time his mother reached for him, Toru didn't back away. He allowed her to brush, primp and straighten his mistreated feathers. It was soothing, that touch, and it helped to bring his irritation back down to a more manageable level. It was especially welcome with the mention of his late father. "He certainly would have been."

The Wolf's expression drooped hilariously fast at that, but before he could trip over himself with condolences, the Sparrow added. "And that one? Does that one belong to you?"

He looked down at the little varmint squirming in his grasp. The cub landed on all fours when dropped. The fledgling Hawk grimaced when it shook like a wet dog and scurried back to the pack to where an equally red headed woman was hugging Kagome.

"Nah!" He chuckled. "That's Ayame's little devil. First cub born in Demon World. Dumb as a rock, that one. I'm not... I don't have—" His hair folded down and sprang back up when he slicked it back. Nerves nearly had him fidgeting. Try as he did to rein those nerves, a blush still stuck to his face and ears. "I'm Hakkaku, left hand man to Koga."

"Shizume. First soldier to the revived House of the West." She bowed.

"A _combat_ Sparrow? No kidding?"

Her lip quirked. "Do you question my abilities?"

"No way. Not if you were trained by Lord Sesshoumaru. I've learned never to assume _anything_ about Kagome's friends." The babbling fool scratched at his nose. "Tickle me impressed, really. I could _tell_ you were somethin' beautiful—I mean special— _unique_. You're very unique."

Shizume's laugh was unrestrained and wholesome, and for some reason it rubbed Toru like sand.

"How fortunate for me to have caught the eye of such a prominent figure in the Wolf clans." She grinned and made herself large, as if to prove that she was no pushover. Tan wings stretched to their full length, well above their heads, to flex the thick coils of muscles that lay just beneath the delicate facade of fluffy feathers.

With a brisk flap, she pulled them close once more and turned to where Kagome was calling her over, wanting to introduce her to the red haired demoness clinging around the Kitsune's neck.

Over her shoulder she said. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Hakkaku, left hand man of Koga."

She walked away from the two, leaving the Wolf a speechless, grinning mass of squishy flesh.

Toru growled. He growled like the canine that he most certainly wasn't. Temper spiked once more.

That got the goon's attention.

"You flirt with my mother again," the pissed preteen warned, "and I'll cut your tongue out in your sleep."

Then he stormed away outside, in search of something or someone that could redirect the energy of his foul mood.

That left poor Hakkaku standing alone, stuck between a rock and a hard place, with a crush bigger than the ocean and a fear just as great.

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

"Defend the perimeter!" Koga shouted to his pack's warriors with gusto, both men and women alike. "Let's show these bastards that we're not giving up this territory! Not this time!"

"Yeah, these are our lands!" Ginta backed him up from his place at his leader's right hand side. They stood on one of the many rocky overhangs that jutted out from the cliff they'd claimed as their own. "For the Wolves!"

"For the Wolves!" Came the rallying cry from the pack below.

Kagome watched with pride as the Ookami, both in the forms of man and beast, howled and prepared themselves for combat.

Makuro's rag-tag army of outerland supporters had been tentatively scoping the area to see about expanding their Lord's territory. They weren't really an army—they acted alone, without formal direction from the Mazoku they idolized—so fending them off wasn't going to incur the wrath of one of Makai's main superpowers. She was far too involved in her own matters, what with Yomi and Raisen constantly at her doorstep.

Neutral territory they were in, yes, but they still bordered fairly close to Makuro's lands. Not close enough to worry over, not once Kagome, Sesshoumaru and Shizume helped them to solidify the Wolves' claim. The maps didn't show her expanding anytime soon. It was nowhere near the main stronghold of her central forces, and bordering Makuro as a neutral party would actually benefit her in the long run.

 _Him_.

Benefit _him_ in the long run.

Kagome needed to remind herself that only she had a cheater's Manual that divulged the true identities of the three feuding Mazoku. Nobody else knew that he was actually a woman, not until she revealed herself publicly at the Demon World's tournament in four hundred and fifty years.

Beside her, Mika pulled Kagome from her thoughts with a firm grip around her upper arm. Her black braids were coiled tight to her scalp and leather armor replaced most of her grey furs. Excitement glittered in the eyes of the regal Wolf, the daughter of the late former Western land's clan leader and new mate to Ginta.

She had vibrant purple eyes, the same that her future daughter would inherit, and a spirited personality befitting her species.

"Kagome, I haven't seen Koga this active and determined for years. He's been a walking ghost for so long; we feared he was going to fade away. It's thanks to your return to his side that all of this is possible. You've brought _stability_ and _courage_ back to us." The grip around her arm tightened. "You've saved Koga's life."

The Kitsune smiled at the woman as she let go and left to join the fray, over to where Hakkakku was sharpening blades and distributing them among the fighters.

Another round of cheers pulled her attention back to the fearless leader above them. His toothy grin stirred up every happy memory they'd ever shared together in the past. All the time they'd spent as allies and friends, hunting down Naraku. It captivated her.

She wanted to burn that smiling image of him into her mind.

"For now... He's alive, for now."

She knew better than to think she could change his fate.

She knew to cherish the time they had left.

══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════

The raucous sounds of celebration echoed throughout the valley for weeks after they successfully pushed back the invading forces and permanently secured that area in the name of Koga and his people. Campfires dotted the cliffs at night.

After fifty years of wandering the Demon Realm, the Wolves finally had a place to call their home.

It wasn't a lot of land—compared to other territories it was downright puny at barely 20 kilometers in diameter—but it was more than enough to provide for their collective. Hot arid plains made up the cave-ridden high ground where the majority of the family units resided, and tepid forests in the lower elevations provided ample shelter and food. And it wasn't far from the land that Sesshoumaru was eyeing for their own pack—a forest a day's journey away, tucked between mountains and hidden deep beyond the rocky outcroppings that edged the Forest of Fools. Right where Kagome knew the valley would be.

While he and Shizume plotted and planned the acquisition of that territory, Kagome stayed with the Wolves and the others to celebrate.

Around one of the fires that lit the mouth of the main cave sat Jiro, the old deer that had joined Kagome and Sesshoumaru back in the Human Realm. Wolves, mostly young ones, sprawled over one another to listen as he told tales both tall and true about the Human World after it had been stripped of demons. He was an avid story teller, and the added input and dramatics from the starry-eyed Tomo and boisterous Shippo only added to the excitement.

The youngest of the cubs joined Rin and Toru where they'd draped themselves about Jaken. It didn't take many of them for the imp to be buried in a mass of fur and feathers. Old age had calmed the better of his temper and he had begrudgingly accepted his role as pack babysitter. Although, he was more often a snoring pillow than a guardian.

White haired hanyou Shiori laughed from where she sat against the opposite wall with the older teens. When the worlds had separated, she'd been left behind. What remained of her grandfather's clan of bats fled to Makai without a second glance. They had no need of her in a world without humans; no need of the barriers that she could produce that had once kept them safe and hidden.

She'd never truly fit in with their type, so for Shiori it wasn't much of a disappointment. The humans, on the other hand, were a different story. For years after her mother passed, she had kept to seclusion, fearing the village that had once more turned its back on her.

Until Kagome had found her, hungry and dirty in the rocky seaside cliff, and extended her hand.

The little half-bat had grown much since they first met, that time when Inuyasha was seeking to strengthen his sword to break Naraku's barrier and had been tasked with killing the tan, purple eyed hanyou child—a task that his moral code refused to let him carry out. She was nearly a young adult. With human blood in her veins she aged much faster than Shippo, Rin, and Toru. But thanks to Koga and Kagome and their influence on the clans, she was never judged for her heritage among the Wolves, and she was quick to make friends.

Kagome's pack gave her a place where she could belong and exist as herself, just as it had for the wandering Tomo and Jiro.

Just as it would for dozens more to come.

A step further from the excitement, Kagome stood listening to Jiro as he went on about a great human battle that he had once watched from a distance, in the hills of Sekigahara. He swore up and down that he knew Kagome, Sesshoumaru, and Shizume were among the ranks of warriors, paving Tokugawa's path to victory with ease and bringing Japan into a new era.

Jiro's embellishments never ceased to entertain. Each time he called out the clashing of swords Tomo beside him created a clap of static electricity that sent the littlest younglings squealing in delight.

Just as they were about to reach the energetic climax of the fight, Koga returned from his rounds.

Kagome followed him without a word when he beckoned. He caught her hand, twined their fingers, and led her deep into the far tunnels of the cave. The walls were lit with the phosphorescent glow of a purple and green moss that Kurama would have probably known the name of. The soft glow played with the colors in the shine of their black hair.

Just before they reached the cavern that he had made into his bedroom, Koga stopped. Like magnets they pulled each other close. He'd only been gone a few hours, but his hands craved her skin as if they'd been apart for years.

The Wolf captured her chin and traced delicate kisses along her jaw, stopping only when his fangs grazed the softer flesh of her neck.

"The borders of our lands are safe, my queen." He whispered, voice husky.

Even though she wasn't his queen. Not really. Not officially.

They weren't mates, and never would be, even though they certainly acted like it. It was a mutual agreement. Both Wolves and Foxes mated for life, after all.

The pain of losing a mate was psychically and physically more painful than losing a lover and friend.

Koga taught her that.

Koga taught her a lot of things that Sesshoumaru never had.

The Priestess smiled and pressed her lips to his cheek. With a satisfied hum—that was something she was still getting the hang of, even after fifty years, those hums and vibrations that formed in the throat and chest like the murmurs of a cat. An inhuman sound through-and-through—she purred. "I'm so proud of you, Koga. You provide the best for your pack."

Ayame, the redheaded she-wolf that once claimed to love the leader of the Eastern clans, encouraged her to say that.

It didn't take an expert to figure out that protecting the collective of the pack was the Ookami demonic urge. Praising one's contributions to the pack was not a compliment to be given lightly, but to be given with emotion and pride.

In the right setting, it was even flirty.

Ego fully fluffed, the Wolf smirked that arrogant grin of his and scooped her up into his arms. He carried her over the natural threshold to his room and dropped gracelessly to land with his back against the furs and cushions that made up his bed. He pulled her lips to his in a kiss that was more fang than mouth, because he couldn't stop grinning.

"I'll only accept the best!"

Clawed fingers crept to the fur trimmed ties that held up the short skirt she'd once again taken to wearing in the more clothing-liberal Demon Realm. Instead of untying it, he opted to slide his hand up the skirt, between the fabric and her skin to grip her thigh.

"Only the best, Kagome." His hold held firm as she repositioned herself to straddle him. "Only you."

Kagome bent down to kiss him and shut him up.

And also to prove that she really was there, in the flesh.

Occasionally, even after being with him for three months, Koga still feared that she was only a figment of his subconscious playing a cruel but wonderful trick on him. And every now and again the Kitsune got a glimpse of the 'walking ghost' that he had been, the depression that had rooted itself within him during her absence. She did everything she could to keep him alert and smiling; focused on life and all that it still had to offer him.

Focused on her.

Koga pulled her hips flush to his own with a throaty, carnal noise as she followed the line of his neck and worked her way down his chest. Straps were unbuckled, lacquered leather removed. Furs were playfully pulled over his head to blind him from her path.

Long black hair sprawled around them like a canopy, both hers and his once she pulled his ponytail free.

Like Sesshoumaru, Koga was riddled with scars big and small. But his scars were from securing his place as leader and protecting his pack, not from her own untrained hands. So instead of kindling a flicker of guilt, they provided gratification. She traced them one by one with a light hand, teasing the sensitive, tan flesh. The demoness enjoyed each twitch of toned muscle beneath the tips of her fingers; adored the fields of goosebumps that she could raise with a claw's caress.

A shudder went through him when she reached his lower abdomen.

He nearly squirmed with impatient anticipation when her touch paused, five fingers laying in the tracks of a well-defined claw mark that sat just above his hip. Heavy breathing beneath her body rocked her up and down as she bent to taste that spot. The short black hairs that paved a downy path from his navel brushed at her cheek.

" _Ah_." He didn't even try to hold back the moan.

Kagome looked up at the puddle of fluff that she'd turned him into. The furs that covered the upper half of his face hid none of the redness that lit his nose and pointed ears. Those deep breaths came from his open hanging mouth. Both arms had risen above his head to grasp the tanned hides for support.

Never did he hide the pleasure that she gave him. He wore it free and unrestrained.

She adored that about her old friend turned lover.

When Kagome didn't start back up right away, the Wolf made a sound that was practically a whimper, like a puppy dog begging for attention.

"Don't stop there, Kagome. _Please_ don't stop there." He begged with a wolfish grin. "I'll give you the world. I'll let you do _anything_. Anything at all. You name it."

The Priestess closed her eyes. Once more she folded forward to press her nose in that same spot. Playful smile fell as she examined his upper pelvis.

It was there that the smell was the strongest; that odd, lightly sour scent that she had brushed off so quickly when they were reunited. By then it had become one that she was well acquainted with.

The sourness hadn't come from Makai's wind like she first suspected.

It came from within Koga's body, where the mass was growing strongest. The mass, the tumor.

The cancer that was eating him away.

"Anything? Then let me heal you."

That sobered him real quick. His arms fell lose, then crossed above his head, mouth easing shut.

"You know that won't work."

"I'm stronger now. I could do something."

Koga sighed, the blood vessels in his face beginning to return to their normal color. "I don't question your ability. No way would I ever question that." He shook his head from where it was half covered, his lips somehow managed to quirk back into that usual smirkish grin of his. "If anyone can bring a guy on the battlefield back from the brink of death, it's you. Hands down, no question."

"You're powerful and _amazing_ , Kagome. You always have been, even before this." He reached out to feel for her hair and followed it back to rub her furry Fox ears. "And I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you by my side. But healers mend wounds. They can't cure disease. You'll just drain yourself trying."

Kagome sat upright and shook away the frustration clouding her vision. Her ears pinned flat to her head. "I hate that I can't do anything to help you." She admitted. "I hate that you're hurting, and all I can do is sit on my hands."

"Actually." Koga laughed as his arms fell beside her. He slipped a hand to grab her thigh again. He loved to touch her anywhere and everywhere, but admittedly her thighs were his favorite. "You're sitting on _me_. You _are_ helping, Kagome. You're helping a million times more than anyone else ever could. Having you here, next to me, _in my bed_ , is the best medicine I could have ever asked for."

He made to pull the furs from his eyes with his free hand so that he could look at her, but the Kitsune grabbed his wrist and pinned it down. Koga didn't fight it.

"I love you, Kagome. You're mine, and I love you. I always will."

The priestess looked up to the study the ceiling and to make sure that the tears didn't collect.

"I'll die loving you."

She smiled at his matter-of-fact tone; sad, but accepting. With a shaking hand, the demoness traced his bare lips before she kissed him.

"I know."

═══════════════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ═══════════════

Kagome had many bedmates over the years: men and women, human and demon. These relationships filled more than just her body's prescription for skin to skin contact. Necessity and comfort. Friendship and pleasure. Mental stimulation and physical stimulation. Each partner brought a new experience. Koga was no different. But what Koga brought to their relationship was something that she hadn't had in any of her prior sexual encounters.

He brought love.

True, unedited, _raw_ love.

In the year they'd spent together, Kagome felt like she was a teenager again. Like she was allowed to crush and flirt while the Wolf courted and wooed. They were cute, and brazenly so. They drove Shippo and Shizume nuts with their PDA.

Most of Kagome's pack traveled with Sesshoumaru as they built the manor and surrounding buildings on their new plot of land while she stayed behind to watch over Koga. However, when they were all together and the Sparrow was pushed to her wit's end, the two lovebirds were frequently kicked out of the caves; forced to patrol the Wolves' territory like _useful_ leaders.

Koga's kin thought it was a riot.

It was on a day such as that that the Kitsune found herself lying beside the Ookami in the coarse grass along the valley's rim, hand in hand and watching the clouds drift by. A short jaunt of chasing out the lesser demons that had accumulated in the dark spaces—like rats in a sewer—had left them both riled, but they had to take breaks more frequently to allow his breath to catch up with his chest. So they took breaks. Many breaks. They took the time to smell the flowers, enjoy each other's company, and talk.

More than talk, they would gossip. Unabashedly, about everyone.

Past, present, _and_ future.

For the betterment of pack relations, of course.

Did Ginta and Mika even like one another? They never seemed to talk, let alone spend private time together. They were mates, yes, but it _was_ an arranged marriage. Maybe something would change for then in the next few hundred years—Saki wasn't going to appear out of thin air. What about Hakkakku and Shizume? He Was crazy about the bird, but even Koga's encouragement and blessing couldn't seem to light a fire under his comrade's stubborn ass. The silver haired wolf didn't want to weaken the integrity of the clan lines while they were still so small and vulnerable to internal disputes. And Shizume wasn't even willing to admit her interest to Kagome _or_ herself.

Often, in those private hours, Koga would even help Kagome figure through the interactions she had with Koenma and the various jobs he gave her. She confided in him fully not only because she trusted him, but also because she knew his knowledge of the future couldn't affect anything, since he didn't have much longer to live.

He wasn't a main character any more.

"Did you hear that Shiori's been sneaking off in the night?"

"Hmm?" Kagome brushed the pad of her thumb against his knuckles.

"One of the kids say she's been seeing someone outside the pack."

Startled, she rose to her elbows and looked at him over the grass. "Who?"

"Oh look." He pointed up to the golden sky to where the tendrils of a bird-butterﬂy sparkled in the light. "A silver one."

The sky in that part of the Demon Realm was only gold for a short period of time in the early dusk, the red fading to a copper then yellow-gold before smudging into the midnight purple of the night sky. Stars and moons lit up the sky on most night, but sometimes they went out, leaving a matte violet backdrop and muting the normally chaotic land.

The Priestess crossed her propped arms. She gave him a look.

To which he laughed and tucked his empty hand beneath his neck before it could miss her warmth. "I don't know who. Some chick. Ginta spots her lurking around the pond sometimes, but he says she's not a threat. She sounds like your type."

"My type?"

"Alone. Sad. Skittish. A real Debbie-downer in need of a certain Priestess' magic touch." The wolf's smile was all teeth.

"Oh really?" Kagome hummed and raised her chin. "I thought the last two were 'the absolute last ones until Sesshoumaru finishes his dog-house, _no_ _exceptions._ "

"Hey, I don't sound _that_ harsh."

"You were pretty stern about it."

"That was only when they were _all_ staying with us. You've been collecting people faster than fleas and the old guy wasn't too hot about it."

Ayame's father wasn't too hot about _anything._ But as the pack elder, his say held weight.

"You're totally right, and I should stop until we move out completely. Not for Niro, though. For _you._ I don't want to overwhelm you with too many new faces. It was stressing you out."

"Hah!" His scoff echoed over the ridge. "It would take a lot more than a few strangers to overwhelm _me._ And when the pack was in its prime you couldn't take a single step without crushing someone's tail, so I'm not worried about the overcrowding, either." When the Priestess didn't seem to be convinced by his argument he switched tactics. He scooched over to set his head on her arms and look up at her with his biggest pleading puppy eyes, brown tail thumping in the dirt. "What's one more gonna hurt? She's lost without you, I bet. I know I'd be lost without you. I can talk to the little halﬁe, see what the story is, get the ball rolling for you. I think the girl might be living _in_ the pond—basically family already."

A smile warmed her lips before Kagome brushed shaggy black bangs from his eyes and leaned down to give the Wolf an upside-down kiss.

"Fine. But let me talk to her first. You can get a little intense, and I want Shiori to feel like she can be open with us about anything."

"What? I'm sensitive!" Nothing about his tone helped him to sound serious. "I'm good at the 'heart-to-heart' thing."

"You pinned Hakkaku down until he confessed he liked Shizurne. Then you nag and follow Shippo anytime he even _talks_ to one of the girls." She sat up, pulling her pillow out from under him.

Koga rolled over lazily and inched his way to sprawl across her lap. It was a subtle game of chase; each time she shifted or moved away he would close the distance between them once more to maintain the contact. He muttered something unintelligible into her bare thigh, skirt hiking ever higher when he wrapped his arms around her torso.

"That's what?" Kagome asked, straightening his ponytail and picking away debris.

Grumbling, the Ookami lifted his head as if it were the heaviest thing in the world, parting from her skin a terrible punishment. "That's different. Shippo's fun to mess with because he riles up so damn easy."

"And you wonder why he keeps stealing your food whenever it's something you really like."

"The blood-mushrooms were innocent; they had nothing to do with it. That was just vindictive."

Koga pressed his cheek against her stomach when she chuckled. They sat together like that for a short while, in a wistful silence.

Sometimes they dreamed about an imaginary future that would never happen. It was a story that kept growing as they added bits and pieces to it when they were alone—virtually living out major events and experiences that could have been. It all started a few months prior on a stormy night. Shippo and Rim were curled tight in the blankets of the Wolf leader's bed and fast asleep—tornadoes and hail swept across the tundra in the first bad storm that the kids saw in the Demon Realm and it spooked them both into seeking comfort that night.

"We would have had two kids." Koga had said casually as he watched over the preteen munchkins between them.

Kagome ran her fingers through Rin's silver hair and made sure that she wasn't laying on any of it. Hair had nearly taken over the girls' side of the bed.

"Only two?"

"Yeah, well the second one would have been a big handful. Maybe we'd have had a third after he was out of the den."

"He?" She inquired, prompting for more. "We would have had a son?"

"Yeah. And he would've looked just like you. A total lady's man, with those big eyes of his. But he would've been stubborn and wild. He'd be a little tornado, always running and jumping off of crazy cliffs and doing all sorts of stupid stuff. He would have made you worry sick."

"I'm worried sick just thinking about it." She smiled. "What about Shippo? Would they have gotten along?"

The Wolf huffed. "Hell no, they would always be bickering and getting into fist fights. But they'd both grow stronger from it. Still, they'd have a bond of brothers, not that they'd admit it to anyone. He'd probably have been born a fox, which would make them even bigger rivals than if he was born a wolf. Kitsune siblings don't usually have very strong family ties. But it'd be different for them, because of you."

"What about the older one?"

"A girl, naturally. She'd be a wolf." He said it as if it were true, as if it'd already happened and it was part of the lives they were currently living. Koga mirrored her by messing with the redhead's hair, but instead of primping, he twisted and tied so that it was sure to be a rat's nest in the morning. One that led to the Kit begging to have it cut shorter so that he didn't have to comb it out like that again. "Shippo would have vowed to protect her with his life the day she was born. She'd take after me and all of my devilish charm, but be brave and amazing like her mom. She would rule the Wolf pack as my heir and fight for love and justice, just like you would have taught her to. She'd blow us all away, our little Kumiko."

Kagome's fingers had stilled in the little girl's locks.

"Kumiko?"

"You don't like it?" He used Shippo's head as an armrest, but the kid stayed fast asleep, deaf to the world and storm battering the ground above them. "I was originally thinking 'Komiko,' as in ' _the child of the Miko_ ,' but I figured it was too close to Koenma's ' _the child of Enma_.' Wouldn't want to be a copy-cat, right? So instead it swapped the 'ko' for 'ku,' using the character that means both to run and to inspire. So she's the fast and inspiring Priestess. A little mixture of the both of us. It's not permanent if you don't like the ring of it. I'm open to ideas."

"No." She shook her head. "No, I love it, it's perfect. Our Kumiko."

Their Kumiko that would never exist.

...Or would she?

Kagome could picture the woman in her mind. The brown haired Wolf from the future that she had seen in passing that looked so much like Koga—so much that they could have been siblings. The modern era's own Kumiko.

Was it possible that the two of them actually did end up having a child together?

No.

Looking back on that introduction to their imaginary daughter, Kagome knew that it wasn't possible. No matter how much she craved to make his story a reality and give him a fairytale ending.

In their world-the real world where Koga was dying, they didn't have any children. And they weren't going to have any. It was something they mutually agreed upon.

Koga didn't want to leave her with anymore hardship and pain than she would already be faced with. Birthing his child would mean raising an illegitimate cub as a single mother, since they weren't mates. But that wasn't something she worried about.

Legitimacy would never matter to Kagome; she'd love her kids no matter what, and her pack would more than make up for Koga's absence.

However, the child would be the born heir to the wolf clans, which would place the full weight of Koga's pack on Kagome's shoulders until the child was old enough to take over leadership. A hefty job to add to her current responsibilities. Within those hundreds of years that it would take for their baby to mature, the Wolves might not take so kindly to being led by a Fox—a certain elder was already barely tolerating her as Koga's lover because she had holy powers—so their little one would become a target. Eliminating the target would eradicate Kagome's claim to the pack, and the Wolves would then be free to fight amongst themselves to find their next leader. Anyone could end up in charge.

That left too many threats and variables for the future.

And it wasn't something that they were going to willingly drag an innocent life into, so they remained childless. Koga named Ginta as his sole heir. And the future remained predictable.

Or so they thought.

Back on the ridge, Kagome sat petting Koga's hair until the hot day's air turned chilly. The gold of the sky slipped into its restful purple. The bird-butterﬂies all returned home to their nests and the translucent bread moths took their place.

"Think you're ready to head back now?" She asked.

A sigh before he replied. "Yeah."

He disentangled himself from her waist and allowed her to pull him to his feet. Wobbling, he held to Kagome's shoulders to wait for the dizziness to subside.

Something further along the ridge caught his eye over the top of the Fox's head.

Koga squinted.

"Mika?"

Kagome saw his eyes go wide, but before she could face the she-wolf and the sudden _thwap_ and hiss on the wind, Koga had grabbed her tight and spun them around. Crushed against his chest, she gasped when the tip of the arrow tore into the flesh just above her right breast. It grazed her collarbone, nearly breaking it.

"Koga!" She managed to get out before his full body-weight fell against her, pressing the metal deeper.

Too late, a barrier sprung up around them. Bound by the wooden shaft, the demoness lowered them both to their knees and groped around his back for the end of the arrow. A firm tug set her free, but sent him into a frenzy of coughs. The warm splatter of blood dappled her cheek and neck. She helped the Wolf to his side, hands wet and slipping against his rapidly soaking furs as she kept pressure to the wound.

When she looked up Kagome saw Ginta's mate standing a distance away along the thinnest point of the jagged slope.

She had Mika's face and body.

But her demeanor was wrong.

Her eyes were wide and shocked. Her stance awkward and skittish. Feet too far apart. Body too stiff. It wasn't the form of the hardened Ookami warrior that had proudly fought under Koga's command to secure their territory from bandits and rogue militants. The bow was gripped in a white-knuckled fist was shaking at her thigh.

The purple eyed Wolf preferred the close-quarter's intimacy of daggers to long distance weapons. She would have never used a bow. Especially for an assassination.

Kagome swallowed hard, forcing down the shock and horror that wanted to knot her tongue. She waited until her breath steadied and the practiced calm of Sesshoumaru's training filled her veins like an icy river before taking her educated guess.

"Kagami."

The wooden bow clattered to the rocks and slid down the ridge.

"That wasn't meant for him." Kagami said in Mika's quivering voice. "He just—why would he _do_ _that_? He did it to himself. On _purpose._ " The shadow in wolf's clothing looked up at her, fear and paranoia wove through Mika's aura like a thick, flaming rope barely mooring his sanity to shore. "It wasn't my fault."

"You need to leave, Kagami." The Kitsune said in a voice that was calm and calculated. Her grip tightened on the wolf bleeding out in her arms. "You need to leave right now. I'm not going to fight you."

She wasn't just going to let Koga die while she let herself be distracted.

"It wasn't my fault. The shot was clean. It was perfect. I was _ready._ " He was shaking like a tiny dog. The high tenor of his stolen voice fell limp to disturbed murmurs. "It should have hit _her._ She isn't able to heal _herself._ She was distracted— _vulnerable._ "

Kagome grit her teeth as the tension grew inside of her. The more he spoke, the more she realized that he was losing sight of her. He was folding in upon himself and it was only a matter of moments until he snapped and attacked like a wild animal backed into a corner.

She knew because she'd been there.

" _Kagami_ " She said, sterner. "I'm giving you a chance to get out of here alive."

"I'm not a murderer." Kagami said to himself with a brick walled conviction. "I'm not like you. I'm the victim."

Finally, he looked up. The agony and fear on Mika's face was just as fresh as it had been the night of the fire that took Hansha's life. The flesh of the Wolf demoness' cheeks paled.

"They're all dead. All because of you. You, and the Spider, and the Mazoku."

"Kagami!" The Black Fox yelled, her taught string snapping. " _Go_!"

Kagami jerked back to his senses when Kagome sent a ripple of electric energy in his direction. It flowed across the land like the crest of an ocean wave racing to break against the sandy shore. He stumbled as he frantically opened his portal with inexperienced hands.

The young Shadow Beast jumped through his gateway and blinked out of existence a hair before the power struck.

Ah.

So he could do that already.

If his portals worked anything like hers and he could lock onto her energy at any time...

A cold hand covered hers. The Kitsune looked back down at Koga—at the arrow shaft that was black-red with both of their blood and protruding from the left side of his chest.

Right where the heart would have been if he were human.

"Guess I really am going to die of a broken heart." He chortled through wheezing breaths and gasped from the pain it caused him.

Kagome scowled. "That isn't funny, Koga." The warm blue glow of her human powers rose to the surface of her clawed fingertips like ethereal gloves as she studied the arrow for the best way to remove it. But before she could manipulate it Koga grabbed her wrist and pulled away.

Hurt, confused, and more than a little angry, she searched his pale eyes for answers.

"Why?"

"Because I'm dying."

Jaw tense, her teeth ground together. Then they stilled. She took a slow, steady breath of the early evening's dry air through her nose.

"I get that. I'm trying to stop that."

Koga shook his head. "No, I'm _dying_ , Kagome." When he couldn't pull himself into her lap, she inched nearer and helped him. "I've got what? A month? Two if I'm lucky?"

"You've got longer than that. You could have another year." There was a stinging behind her eyes. A pressure building at her temples.

He smiled at the lie.

"Right now I can die on _my_ terms." He lifted his arm to wipe away the blood on her cheek with the pad of his thumb, but it had already started to congeal into a sticky mess so it only smudged. "Let me go out protecting my woman." His fingers lingered against her flushed skin and he memorized the oceans of her eyes, glowing dim under the evening's darkness, even as their lively waters receded and were replaced by depths of sorrow. Like bio-luminescent little jellyfish, her eyes soon provided the only light against the moonless, starless purple sky that was the new moon on the topmost layer of the Demon Realm.

"Kumiko would have had green eyes."

"Green?" Kagome sniffed and pressed into his touch, holding his palm close to keep him from slipping away. "But we both have blue eyes."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah... but my mother's were green." The grin he wore still managed to spark with the brisk, rambunctious energy he always seemed to carry around with him. "She would've liked you."

Before she could ask questions about the childhood and family that he elusively kept secret, he asked. "Was that the Shadow kid?"

The Fox's grip tightened. The hurt that she felt when she thought about Kagami was an old friend. But the anger? That was new. Sure, she'd assumed that they'd cross paths before her tenure in the past was up. She feared that he would pop up at the worst possible time. But she hadn't actually _expected_ him to become a vicious cameo in the pleasant life she was she was trying to steal away in Koga's final days.

She hadn't expected him to steal away Koga.

They only had a _year_ together.

Was it selfish of her to want more, even when she already knew their time was going to be short?

"Yeah. That was him."

"A little cracked, isn't he?"

Her response was half bark of laughter, half sob. The tears gathered enough to make her Vision murky.

"What do you want me to tell the pack?" She deflected. She wasn't going to waste their time talking about Kagami.

"Tell them I'm finally meeting dogmeat in hell to kick his ass for making you cry so damn much."

Kagome tried to smile. "That's not what I meant." Her tail curled over her lap, covering his shivering shoulders like a shawl. "I'll tell them you were a hero."

He made a valiant attempt to laugh, but it broke into a frenzy of wet coughs. So instead he smiled. That too looked broken. "I'm no hero." He claimed her hand and pressed it to his nose to kiss the soft pale skin of her wrist and inhale her scent. Voice just barely above a whisper, he spoke his favorite words one final time. "I just love you, Kagome."

All she could do was nod. And that broke her heart.

In the hardest movement she ever had to make in her elongated life, Kagome withdrew her other hand—the one that was still pressed to the wound in his chest, stemming the flow of lifeblood from the arrow. She'd never been able to reply to those words, to tell him that she loved him back. The commitment of it scared her in the same way the bonds of mating stayed Koga's pursuit to a comfortable, casual courting.

It would have made it more difficult to say goodbye.

By letting him go Kagome expressed her feelings. It showed the faith she held in him, the respect she had for his choice and his honor.

The look in his eyes told her that she made the right decision.

They sat together, there on that ridge in a circle of grass stained black with more than the night's shadows, mirroring the moment of comfort that they had already shared as the sun set. It felt like an age ago, back when Kagami was still just a distant memory and future hurdle to overcome when the time came. The Kitsune stroked her companion's hair as he held tight, like a mother rocking her child to sleep.

She kept him close even after his grip fell away and the blood stopped flowing.

And by the time his scent began to fall stale on the wind the mourning howls began to chorus in the plateaus around them. The pack must have finally caught scent of his blood and gone looking for them.

Sesshoumaru was the first to arrive.

The moment she felt his familiar aura, her barrier dropped.

She wasn't expecting to see him for several more days. Had he left ahead of the pack to find her?

The Dog lifted nose to the air and frowned. His golden eyes burned like embers as they passed over the scene, over her and Koga, over the ledge to the wooden bow that had fallen to the base of the valley.

"Kagami did this." He said when he came to his conclusion—Mika wasn't able to be in two places at once after all, and he'd passed her at the caves on his way to that far comer of the Wolf's land. His voice was kept carefully devoid of reaction as he studied his colleague. While it wasn't her first time losing a loved one, it was the first time where that loved one had been a lover.

The Priestess nodded. She tore her eyes away from Koga to glance up at the Inu for only a second, but the concern she saw there held her gaze longer. He was worried about her.

When had he begun to open up to her so freely?

The change had been so gradual; she'd hardly noticed it before. For the first time Kagome could see how he'd grown into the kinder man that had greeted her at his manor in the future.

She smiled, small but genuine.

"I'll be alright."

He accepted her word without hesitation.

"Will you follow him?" Sesshoumaru asked as if the interlude hadn't happened.

She could. As long as Kagami was still shaped as Mika she could find his energy signal, the Jewel would open a portal right to him. He didn't yet know she had that power, so there wasn't any reason for him to quickly lose the disguise as long as he was far enough away for them to be unable to track him by scent or Youki on foot.

But did she really want to deal with him just then?

Was she confidant that she could handle the situation with a rational head?

Kagome shook out her hair, ears pinned back.

"No." Then she said the one thing she knew would be true about their future, no matter what. "He'll find me again, eventually."

Because he would. Kagami would find her before she even knew who he was and cause confusion and chaos. He would attack her new friends and kidnap the gentlest demoness she'd ever met. But when _she_ saw him next it would be different.

"Next time it'll be on my terms. When _I'm_ ready. I can't let him find me until then. That means I can't stay here, Sesshoumaru. I can't be near the pack like this. He's only after me. I don't want anybody else to get hurt. I won't let anyone else die. Not because I was careless."

Kagome reeled in her aura that she'd gotten far too comfortable having unbound for all of the Demon Realm to sense, and sealed it away tight. Kagami would have never been able to track her in the first place if she'd only kept it that way.

"I knew it was just a matter of time until he stole the ability to make portals."

"You're calm." He pointed out. "You've already thought this through."

"I've been thinking about it ever since we came here."

"You have a plan?"

The demoness disentangled herself from the lifeless body of her old friend and lover before gathering him into her arms and rising to her feet. She stepped past Sesshoumaru to stand at the edge of the ridge and looked out at the land that now belonged to Ginta.

"I didn't really know what I was going to do at first. But I think it's pretty clear now what I did—what I'm _going_ to do." She paused, rested her chin atop Koga's head, and stared at nothing. "Hey, Sesshoumaru. Can you promise me something?"

He fell quiet. She heard the shifting fabric of his pants as he moved to stand behind her.

When Kagome looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes were heavy with unshed tears.

"Promise me that you won't leave me too?"

He shut his glowing cat-eyes and let out a meager sigh. Slowly, the regal demon raised his arm, skin not as ethereally pale on that starlesss night as it usually was when they were baited in the light of the moon, but striking against the deep wine of the night's landscape all the same. He rested his clawed fingers gently between her ears and twined them in her hair to offer comfort.

"You have my vow."

Kagome's smile finally reached her eyes, even as the tears fell.

"Where will you go?" He asked

The Kitsune took another step, beyond the reach of his arm, and continued walking along the rocky slope to carry the fallen Wolf leader back to his den.

"Home. With you. To the House of the West."

"You're speaking in riddles." Came his growl as he caught up in a few long strides to walk beside her. "You just said that you could not return to the pack."

"No. I said I can't be near them _like this._ At least not publicly. So I won't be like this."

"Like what, exactly?"

Kagome didn't stop walking.

"Like me."

════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════

The door of the shrine house clicked one last time as Botan wrapped up her final peek at the nondescript, barren well. All of its magic had disappeared with Kagome and Shippo, leaving just a dusty old room in the wake of their vibrant and mystical journey. Wherever—whenever they had gone, they certainly weren't returning through that portal. Hiei had even confirmed that the well was out of commission by leaping haphazardly off the ledge and into the unknown the moment the lights went out, despite her protests.

She'd already scolded him for that.

 _Honestly._ What would that boy have done if he'd gotten lost somewhere in the past?

What would the _people_ have done if the little fire demon had been trapped in the Human Realm of the past?

The Grim Reaper shivered at the thought.

She smiled, shook her head, and with one last caress of the ancient, weathered wood of the sliding doors Botan turned to face the courtyard. The red arch and pebble paving glowed in the day's cold but bright light. It reflected against the thin layer of snow that dusted the grass and roofs. Hiei stood between her and the God tree, a dark smudge on the brilliance casting a gloomy shadow, but the light at his back illuminated the tips of his hair and lit its blue sheen like the hottest of fires.

He was scowling, as usual.

"To think that time travel was possible, and right under our noses!" She exclaimed and patted a cobweb from her pink kimono sleeve. "This seems to be the big secret that Lord Koenma has been keeping from us for whoever knows how long. But it is best we don't dwell on that. It isn't healthy to be bitter. He is sure to have a perfectly good reason. Our ignorance must've been _detrimental_ to keeping the timeline intact. Yes, of course that was it! And I don't feel that anything's changed, so we must have carried out our hidden roles perfectly!" She paused, her rosy lips quirked into a quick frown. Her forefinger touched her jaw as she cocked her head and voiced her query out loud. "Would we even notice a change if something were to happen? Or would everything simply remain as we've always known it because it's already occurred?"

Barely audible over the late fall wind, Hiei huffed.

"You're overthinking it." Still, he glanced over her shoulder at the building behind her and seemed to consider the implications of time travel. "It's doubtful we'd notice anything."

Botan beamed. "Oh, good. Because that would be awfully confusing."

One wooden sandaled foot in front of the other, the ferry girl stepped closer to the crest of the hill to look over the modern metropolis of Tokyo. It wasn't often that she had to take on cases in the larger city.

"Now that they've gone back to the past, when do you think Kagome will return to us? We shouldn't sit on our hands for too long, what with Yukina—" She gasped and placed her hands over her mouth to physically hold the words shut before looking back at the apparition.

His glower darkened and the hand that perpetually rested atop his sword gripped the hilt with white knuckles, but aside from that he didn't look horridly rocked by the news. '

Which meant he'd already been told about his sister's kidnapping and she wasn't going to be flayed for being the one to inform him in such a callous way.

What a relief.

She did quite enjoy being in one piece.

A gentle ripple crossing the protective barrier around them drew Botan's attention back to the Tori archway and the stairs beyond. Hiei flitted to perch atop the red beam.

The pair watched, still as statues, as the woman made her way up the stone steps. Even disguised as a human, Hiei recognized her instantly. She wasn't particularly tall, but she carried with her an air of regality with the way she held her head high and kept her eyes focused. She had tan skin, a long face that was pleasant to look at, and long brown hair tied high in a thin ponytail. The demoness looked out of place against the city backdrop, wearing her skirted military uniform like an extra who'd wandered away from the set of a movie.

It was the same Wolf that had fetched him from Makuro's lands with Kurama in tow and escorted them back to Sesshoumaru's impenetrable manor without so much as a single word. Her mind was as equally impossible to peruse as Kagome's. She had the same mental block placed on her as the Sparrow, the Dog demon, and everyone else on that damned compound.

Even now she was guarded like a fortress. Aura locked so tightly away that even the Forbidden child couldn't sense the smallest flicker of it.

"You!" Botan pointed when she recognized the woman. "I saw you with Koenma in his office once!"

" _Hah."_ Hiei spat snidely. All of the pieced clicked into place neatly. "You've been lurking around us the entire time, haven't you?"

"You know her, Hiei?"

"Oh. Yes." He glared. Faster than the Reaper could see, the apparition jumped from the arch and landed on soft feet several steps above the Ookami. Sword drawn, he pointed the tip of it to the woman's throat. "We've met."

Instead of flinching, the green eyed Wolf smiled.

"Show your true face, Fox."

═════════════ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════

 **Chapter Eight: End**


	9. The Present is Today

**Chapter Nine: The Present is Today**

 **Sesshoumaru's Manor, The Rogue Lands**

 **Two Months Prior to Present Day**

The Dog Demon of the revived House of the West, the Lord of the manor bearing his name, put his pants on just like everybody else in the world: one leg at a time. It was shimmying them up over his hips and tying them off with only one arm that took ample amounts of practice and finesse to be able to do without looking like an ecdysiast dancing for coin. But the loose linen drawstrings of his modern pajamas were far more user friendly than his standard hakama and sash.

From the over-sized bed his partner stretched and vocalized a satisfying moan of pleasure at her cracking joints.

He looked over at her thoughtfully.

Sprawled width-ways across the mattress, the wolf's warm skin and loose brown hair complimented the deep reds of his silks. Although he would have much preferred to see the stark contrast between the sheets and Kagome's cooler color scheme and ivory paleness, the relaxed form of Kumiko was just as welcome. Besides being without a stitch of clothing, Kumiko was disheveled and sweating from more than the Demon Realm's unrelenting summer heat.

She had a habit of being indulgent when something was weighing on her mind.

Sesshoumaru stepped over to where her head hung over the edge and locks spilled to the floor. He brushed away the strands that had stuck to her cheek and traced the hills of her lips before leaning down to kiss them.

Kumiko's voice made him pause when he was just a breath's distance away.

"I'm going to need your help sending her back through the well."

For a moment the only sound between them was the air cycling through their lungs as he thought about the implications of her request. Never before had the Demoness asked for him to interfere in the timeline that she protected so fiercely.

"What would you have me do?"

The woman looked up at him with evergreen eyes, dark and full of the mysteries and secrets that lay just beyond the glade. He was one of the select few privy to most of what she held sealed. Soon enough her original time would be upon them and she would be free to unleash her true form once more, but until then she clung to the shadows like moss to a tree, listening and watching as the forest grew around her. Playing her important role in the ecosystem so discreetly as to be completely overlooked by any traveler passing through.

"You have to tell her to grow up. You to make her feel like she's inadequate and pathetic and that going to the past is her only option."

"But that would be a lie." He replied coolly. "Even as a human adolescent you have always been more than capable of succeeding in your endeavors. Your strengths transcended the physical, age had never been a factor."

She signed, but not in a dissatisfied sort of way. In fact the sound sounded down right pleased.

"True or not." She started. "This is how the story needs to play out. We can't just tell her to go back through the well—it would change her thought process and change the timeline. She might even rebel against it.

At that point Kumiko pushed herself up to rest on her elbow while Sesshoumaru settled in beside her. The bed dipped under his weight.

"No, it needs to follow what already happened. I had a role to play in the past—a job to do. Everything else I learned along the way about myself and others was just an added perk. She'll be more inclined right now to go the past thinking it's to better herself so that she can save her friends than if we told her it's her responsibility as guardian. She's vulnerable. She'll figure it out, don't worry. I know what's going to happen with Kagami will play out the same way whether she grows up or not, but her thinking that she needs to learn her powers and grow up before she can face him is what makes her jump."

To keep the emotion in her voice clinical and sterile the Ookami trained her focus, picked up the strands of his trailing silver hair that had pooled beside her, and began to braid their ends. She breathed even and steady, spoke sure and firm, but her fidgeting touch conveyed to him her nerves, her lightly floral scent belied her worry and sadness. No matter how hard the woman tried to play the part of the impartial bystander, she was never be able to completely separate herself from those emotions that made her so passionate and irresistibly unique.

That characteristic made her decisions carry more weight, as well as satisfaction when things went well.

But this choice would be different than the countless others that she had made before then, and the countless lives she had altered for the sake of maintaining the integrity of the timeline, because the life she was altering was her own. It was a story that she already knew, but she was the one who needed to pull the correct puppet strings in order to make it a reality.

Whether or not those tactics sat well with her shouldn't have mattered, because for the Priestess they had already happened and were considered ancient history. However, the mighty general Kumiko was, at the end of the day, Kagome Higurashi, and the thought of hurting anybody—even her own past self—left a sour taste in her mouth.

Sesshoumaru hummed and picked apart the strategy of how she was facing this task surrounding her younger counterpart. "You are preying on your past weakness." He noted. "The lapse in judgment brought on by your sudden demonic transformation and the subsequent identity crisis, to bring about the end result that you've already achieved."

"Exactly." The Kitsune in Wolf's clothing confirmed. "I already have Koenma on board and we're about to bring Yusuke up to speed on what he needs to know. His role is just as important as yours, if not more. Still..." Kumiko paused. The silken strands of hair must have become lead in her fingers, because her hands flopped back down to the mattress when she looked up at him once more. Those eyes glowing from within only accented the hesitation chiseled into her brows.

That was a rare sight for the Inu Youkai.

He hadn't seen the girl show hesitation in years—not since she left Koenma the breadcrumbs that led to Sensui, knowing full well what would become of the second Spirit Detective and how that would tear the Spirit Prince apart.

"He's probably going to hate me for it." Kumiko continued after averting her eyes with a sign and laying her head down on her crossed arms. "I need him to attack me both physically and mentally. It goes against his core beliefs, but it's the blow that breaks the dam. I just hope he can forgive me after the smoke clears and he realizes that the 'future seer' Kumiko was me all along."

So that was it.

She hadn't been fretting over her own pain and suffering after all.

It was the boy. Koenma's Atavism Detective that had won the Dark Tournament, had begun the cultural reform of the Demon Realm by starting the Makai Tournaments, and that she defended and praised so fiercely.

Leave it to that woman to chew on something so trivial.

Sesshoumaru gently ran the tip of his claw down the length of her spine and back before gathering her hair so that he was able to touch his lips to the bare skin hidden beneath. He ignored the glamoured points of the Wolf's ears that felt real enough to his own touch, but did nothing for her own senses, and instead moved up the length of her neck and jawline to rest his nose in the hair at the top of her head where her real ears were hidden so well.

If he held his breath and focused, he was able to pick up on the near silent sounds of their twitching.

He took deep satisfaction in the fluttering of her blood beneath his touch and the flush that warmed her cheeks.

And so he sang a song of reassurance, for her ears only.

"If the boy is a fraction of the person you've built him to be in your stories, then forgiveness should be easy to find."

 **Tokyo, Present Day**

Mrs. Higurashi's hand on the steering wheel tightened when the passenger side door closed. She waved and watched the young woman ascend the ancient stone steps of the Sunset shrine. As soon as she crested the hill out of view, Mrs. Higurashi put on her blinker and pulled away from the curb to pick Souta up from his morning soccer practice and take them out to lunch as she'd been asked.

No doubt to stall for time as the young lady settled her business without them being in the way.

That young woman.

The one with the long, thin brown hair that hadn't aged a day in fifteen years.

Her _best friend_ since adolescence that she spoke with on the phone nearly every other night.

And more.

The lady who occasionally gave her flowers when she went shopping.

The frequent parishioner with freckles and her little brother she'd played with as a child.

The little black cat that followed Mrs. Higurashi from time to time when she swept the shrine grounds.

Her daughter.

They had all been her daughter, watching and protecting unseen until that day; the day that her younger self had gone back in time for the last time to live out her extended, demonic life.

When the light in front of her changed from yellow to red and her vehicle came to a complete stop Mrs. Higurashi slumped forward, pressing her forehead to the wheel.

It was a lot to take in.

Her daughter had returned to her, just as she had promised. Yet the Priestess' mother couldn't help but feel as though she'd just lost her only baby girl. Without a single word of warning or farewell her daughter had leapt through the cursed well with the intent of staying in the past.

There was finality in that.

She'd returned, yes—without even a gap of absence to make her disappearance noticeable from the time they'd spoken on the phone the night before—but she hadn't returned unchanged.

She'd returned a stranger with her child's face aged two years from the time she'd seen her last and five hundred years' worth of earthly memories and experiences.

She'd become a woman ten times over in the barest blink of her family's eye.

Behind her a car honked. Mrs. Higurashi pulled herself upright to continue the commute.

Kagome had admitted to them that she hadn't been able to keep herself away from her family completely. She'd been paying frequent visits to the shrine in her various disguises since her Grandfather was a young man. Kagome had seen her own mother through the spring of her youth and young adult hood. Had attended Mrs. Higurashi's wedding as her best friend. That same best friend who had 'moved away' shortly after Kagome was born and had become a long distance friend over the telephone.

Her daughter's visits to the shrine under other guises hadn't slowed until her younger self had turned fifteen; at which point the visits dipped drastically. Kagome only dared to stop by when the fledgling teenage Priestess was away on her longest visits to the feudal era; when there was time for the wind to thoroughly scrub the leaves and cobblestones free of her scent. lnuyasha was a reoccurring fixture in their household in those years, after all, and while his nose might not have recognized any lingering remnants straight away as Kagome, he would have recognized her as a demonic presence requiring investigation.

She took every caution and precaution available to keep her identity a secret while integrating into their lives as seamlessly as possible. Without even realizing it, the girl's mother had learned so much about her own child's second life through the hundreds of conversations they'd had; Kumi's adopted son had been Shippo the entire time, her grumpy neighbor Sesshoumaru, the community center the Wolf den, her career as a security systems administrator her job as the Guardian of the Realms.

And the stalker she'd been digging up information on to bring to the proper authorities?

That was the demon that now threatened Kagome's present.

Mrs. Higurashi had never had any qualms about her daughter becoming a demoness—it had never really affected them or their relationship.

But now.

But now she had just learned that her closest friendship was built on a lie—Kumi did not exist.

Kumiko Kouken.

The Inspirational Priestess.

The Guardian.

Mrs. Higurashi blinked away the mist that threatened to blur her vision and pulled a sharp left into a convenience store lot. The parking brake stuck a bit, just as it always did. Stiff but familiar.

She closed her eyes and sank into the rhythm of the idling engine.

She would remain calm.

She would keep herself together as she'd always done in the face of turmoil and emotion, like any well-mannered housewife her age was supposed to.

As she sat there in silence without the whirring of the fans or lull of static radio filling the dead air, the back door of the vehicle opened and latched shut. A few seconds later so did the front passenger door.

The old man only spoke once he had perfectly adjusted the seat that'd been set back to accommodate his granddaughter's longer frame.

"Would you have preferred if she hadn't told you?" The elder Higurashi asked, surprisingly level headed despite the demonic nature of the subject matter. He had remained silent throughout their breakfast with the mature Kitsune woman that he had once bounced on his knee as a toddler. "Would you have wanted her to slip back into her old life and pretend that nothing changed? To keep us in the dark to everything she's been through?"

The middle aged woman slumped lower in her seat as if the puppet strings holding up her shoulders had suddenly been severed. Her knees rested against the steering column.

In that moment she was one more a hesitant teenager, confiding in her father just as she had been the day she admitted to him that she had fallen in love with a boy from her poetry club and not the guy that he had set her up with at the marriage meeting.

"I don't know, Dad."

The hand that still held her beloved wedding ring rose to her mouth, trying to cover the fear and loss coupling there.

Her father's lips pursed and he reached over to pat her knee.

"Did she look healthy?"

Through her rising tears, Mrs. Higurashi nodded.

"Did she look happier?"

"So much happier."

"Are you upset because your friend had been Kagome all along, or because your baby grew up without you?"

A knot rose in her throat and she had to look away to keep her face from the judgmental, prying eyes of passing pedestrians.

Grandpa hummed.

He waited a minute before asking. "Did her smile look like a stranger's smile or Kagome's smile?"

Through the redness of her cheeks and the moisture of her eyes, Mrs. Higurashi smiled.

"Like Kagome's."

"Exactly like Kagome's. We haven't seen that smile in months. So you weren't there to hold her hand through the hard times or to see her grow—that's okay. We probably wouldn't have seen her change so much in our own lifetimes, anyhow. You may not have been with her physically, but we were with her in spirit. It was the foundation that you build for her that set Kagome's morals into stone, and _my_ lessons that helped to prepare her for life living among youkai. She didn't change into a monster and ravage the earth. Even as a demon, Kagome is still your daughter at the very core of her being."

The elder Higurashi pulled his hand away to dig in the center console for the little yellow cotton handkerchief that was kept there.

"And your daughter will _always_ need her mother, no matter how long she has lived."

His own daughter graciously took the handkerchief with shaking fingers. As soon as she finished dabbing her face she peered over at her aged father and gave him a smile that looked like a sunflower blooming through the cracks in a sidewalk—a glimmer of light despite the weight of Kagome's story. The smile made it to her eyes and put the deep creases of her laugh lines to work.

"You always know just what to say, Dad."

His laughter crackled.

"I'm supposed to. I'm your father."

══════ With Reason ══════

 _"Show your true face, Fox. "_

Botan blinked and looked between the brown haired newcomer and her fiery companion. He was as tense as a box spring and ready to pounce while she remained... serene. Sure, her shoulders were proudly straight and she'd settled back on her feet that said 'I'm relaxed, but if you jump so will l.'

Surely she _had_ seen the lady before in Koenma's office.

But surely she had been a _Spirit Guide._ Not a Fox.

Surely Hiei was mistaken.

Or so the Reaper thought before the woman began to shift and change right before her very eyes.

With a hazy shimmer, like looking through warped glass or a heat mirage in the desert, long brown hair became even longer black tresses. Green almond eyes widened to oceanic blues. Tan skin lightened one shade and then another until it was porcelain pale. Curved humanoid ears pointed before curving once more to rounder, humanoid cartilage. One by one the demoness in front of them untied the knots of the pieces to her glamour and stripped away her disguise until a very familiar Priestess had taken her place.

The very same Priestess who had only just left.

Only, she wasn't the very same.

She'd grown.

Before Botan had just barely been the taller of the two but now Kagome towered over her by a mighty inch. The girl's face had lost some of the youthful roundness in her cheeks, giving her an ageless appearance that many demons maintained throughout their adult lives. The blue military jacket that she wore fit her like a well-tailored glove, whereas before it had hung a bit baggy along the arms.

This was Kagome Higurashi as a full-fledged adult demon.

She really _had_ traveled to the past to live her life.

A gasp escaped Botan before she could cover her mouth with the tips of her fingers. Soon afterwards dew began to cling to her thick lashes. Kagome had _only_ _just_ left, it was just so surreal seeing her again so soon and so different. She barely even had a chance to process the demoness' departure. That big of an info dump was worth at least a day's recovery time.

Yet there she was. Smiling at them like they were old friends.

Hiei interrupted Botan's awe and fascination.

"Tch." He spat. "Is that all you'll drop?"

The ferry guide looked back at him, standing still and brandishing his scraped sword with a ridged grip. He looked more insulted than disappointed at Kagome's reveal.

"In the heart of Tokyo?" The Priestess asked in response. "This'll have to be enough for now."

Botan wasn't given the opportunity to be confused before Hiei flit forward and attacked. A delayed wind threw her hair in a tousle well after the black streak of his figure had passed.

"Hiei! What on earth are you doing!?" She shrieked as Kagome sidestepped and evaded his furious barrage.

The demoness wasn't faster than the smaller apparition, but she made a show to match his movements tit for tat. The two moved in circles around the courtyard, like dancers in a boxing ring. Hiei's blade sliced through the air, sliced through the leaves falling on the wind between them, and even through the branch of a small tree, but he hadn't gotten close enough to slice skin.

The one time he _had_ gotten close, Kagome dropped down low. Instead of leaving a nasty welcome home gift across her neck, the tip of his sword tore the elastic holding together her high ponytail. The suddenly loosed locks fell in a torrent over her shoulder and pooled around her crouched knees.

She was both carnal and composed.

Wild and refined.

The display was beautiful.

Hiei, on the other hand, looked to be swimming in irritation and venom.

Not that that was new.

Avoiding the swipe of the demoness' leg, Hiei jumped back.

The grim reaper squeaked and scuttled behind a bench when black flames engulfed the steel of the forbidden child's sword. He wasn't stupid enough to unleash the full dragon in the middle of a city, but there were other tricks up his sleeve.

The fire was hot enough to heat the raised lips of the blade's scratches—the minuscule aberrations caused when he forced his sand covered blade back into its sheath—to a bright red glow. Soon enough they liquefied and began to accumulate along the edge.

A jerk of his wrist sent the molten droplets hissing to the ground.

Once more he sped forward, intent on facing the Priestess head on with relentless bombardment to overwhelm her.

A tactic she must have anticipated.

Kagome met his next series of swipes with a shimmering pink barrier. The contact of metal and fire on its surface sent a spray of glowing sparks flying, but the wall held firm.

From where she was crouched, peeking through the slats of the bench, Botan caught an odd shift of light. The bubble that surrounded the demoness had begun to stretch and grow, curving behind Hiei's back while his attention was glued to the female inside.

"Hiei! Look out!" Botan couldn't help but call out to warn the prickly little demon that had been her teammate for so many years, even if he _had_ been the one to start the stupid fight. "She can manipulate the barrier!"

His barrage stopped for just a second as he glanced to assess the energy creeping behind him, but whipped back when something caught his blade. He'd turned just in time to see Kagome's hand reaching towards him—the sword embedded in the solidified Miko power.

A tug on the hilt.

Nothing.

Hiei's weapon was held captive in a pane of impenetrable, malleable glass, the tip of it well within the occupant's reach.

Just when Botan thought Hiei was going to sacrifice the sword and try something new, she saw the fire apparition smirk. Nervously, her attention shifted to Kagome. The building heat of the fire within the barrier was no doubt immense. She could see the Priestess was beginning to sweat, her breath beginning to grow more labored as the flames fed off of what little oxygen was trapped within the dome.

The collar of her jacket began to smoke.

Hiei's grip tightened on the tattered hell fire bindings that protected the sword's black iron hilt—the same bindings that

swathed the black dragon on the skin of his arm—and he let the hell break lose.

An inferno of hungry, ink-black flamed filled the cavern around the demoness.

Unable to continue watching the horrifying display burning before her, Botan hurtled herself from her hiding spot.

"Stop this! You're going to kill her!"

Without looking at her, or even acknowledging that the Grim Reaper had spoken, Hiei removed his hand from the blade. Without the stream of his aura to feed it, the angry flames began to wither and die until nothing but smoke filled the barrier.

Not even the priestess.

Botan's eyes widened. Her hands rose to cover her gaping mouth as an intense feeling of panic began to set in.

Hiei killed Kagome!

He _incinerated_ her!

There was nothing left of the woman! Not even ash!

Even _Hiei_ was staring at the barrier in shock and disbelief.

No.

He couldn't have.

"Hiei." Botan began, her voice throaty and trembling. He took a step back, cautiously searching the area _outside_ of the barrier. " _What have you d_ —"

From the empty air behind him swung a boot-clad foot. A loud _clap_ echoed across the clearing, causing the Grim Reaper to flinch. When she reopened her eyes Kagome was there in her singed clothing but otherwise unmarred. Hiei had caught her kick before it could make contact with his nose, however the force pushed him back.

Back and away from the wall of solid light holding his sword captive.

He didn't take his eyes off from the demoness, even as the light began to dissipate. Even as the crude-but-sharp blade was flung to the other side of the small shrine grounds. Even as Botan stormed towards them.

"The both of you!" She yelled, not bothering to hide her relief at seeing Kagome unincinerated. "Knock it off this instant! We're supposed to be working _together_! Not _fighting!_ "

Deaf ears ignored her command as the two powerfully ranked beings faced off in razor sharp silence.

Hiei broke contact first.

He released Kagome's boot and bare knee, and leapt away to put distance between them, all while keeping her in his sights.

"So that's it." The Fire Apparition said with a toothy smirk. Botan swore she could hear _mirth_ in the bite of the little monster's voice. "That's how you were able to follow me undetected in the Demon Realm. You can conceal your barrier and anything in it. The _pink_ _one_ was a distraction."

Feeling like a spectator back in the arena at the Dark Tournament—or better yet like the announcer, situated between the two contestants as she was while they tested each other's power—the blue haired Spirit turned to Kagome for her response.

The demoness' cool, aloof expression that she'd been wearing since the spat began split with a smile. Her blue eyes glittered with amusement like rippling water catching the sun.

Even subdued, Botan had never seen her so genuinely expressive.

"Well, hush." Kagome teased the now younger boy. "You're going to give away all my secrets."

Botan looked back to Hiei and caught the tail end of his smirk.

And once again he was off like a flea, hands raised in fists.

This time, instead of countering or blocking, the black haired Miko fled to the limbs of the huge tree above them.

He gave chase.

His black boot tapped to one branch, and then another slightly higher.

He was about to land on a third branch when suddenly the living wood erupted beneath him in a burst of purple demonic energy and slivers. The explosion was strong; it threw him out of the tree and knocked Botan flat on her back. It ripped the remaining brown leaves from the Goshinboku, a confetti of their torn and disintegrated pieces fell to the disrupted snow in a perfect circle outlining the radius of the blast.

Groaning, the Grim Reaper put a hand to her ringing ears and pulled herself up on her butt.

A ways away from her, Hiei had managed to remain standing. Aside from the ragged transformation of his long black pants to capris and an angry burn encircling his ankles, he seemed unharmed. There was a mark on the ground where he had used the momentum of the blast to slide and pick his sword back up. He was crouched low and defensive, looking around the courtyard slowly like a wild animal scouring for the threat it _knew_ was looming close but just out of sight. The snow around his feet had melted away completely and the cobbles were beginning to steam. The third eye on his bare forehead was open wide and glowing.

Searching.

That was when it occurred to her for the first time that Hiei might not be able to sense Kagome.

Since day one the Priestess' aura had been so tightly concealed that Botan herself was never able to feel the energy of the girl, but the Jagan had always been able to detect things that were well beyond the radar of everybody else on their team. He was a literal sonar device for demons! For him to be unable to sense something, particularly the power of such a highly classed demoness, well...

Well, it was a bit frightening.

It was extremely relieving to know that the time-traveler was on _their_ side.

She... _was_ on their side, right?

The sound that Kagome made as she landed back on the ground alerted them to her location. Hiei spun around to face his opponent once more, sword raised.

Kagome just stood there, barely a meter away from the forbidden child, with arm outstretched and fingers splayed.

Neither one of them moved.

A shiver ran down the ferry girl's back, but she couldn't tell what—or who—had caused it.

The Jagan was still active, so for a hot second Botan assumed that Hiei had done something to restrain the demoness. But then the eerie glow of the eye began to fade. The steam at his boots fizzled to nothing. The flame and smoke that previously encased the sword had been purified by the Miko's barrier, leaving behind nothing but a clean, tempered blade.

A bead of sweat rolled down the curve of his face.

"You're toying with me." Hiei spat.

"You're holding back because we're in a human city." Kagome replied.

He scoffed, but didn't deny it.

Then the winds shifted. As quickly as it had started, the fight was over. The shorter Apparition stepped out of his fighter's stance and sheathed his blade. The stiff formality and tension in the Priestess' shoulders fell away. Her arm dropped to her side. Botan's head spun with mental whiplash as she stood to her feet and began to brush the melting ice and leaf dust from her kimono.

A greeting such as that was something she would have expected out of Hiei and Yusuke, or even Yusuke and Kuwabara. Never would she have expected such a raucous display from the gentle, timid, emotionally scarred—

No.

That was the five hundred years younger Kagome.

This one was a stranger to them all, wasn't she?

All of them except Koenma, it seemed.

"Are you satisfied?" Kagome's nearly whispered question caught her ear.

Overly curious and a little bit nosey, the ferry girl listened for Hiei's muffled response.

"Not until the terms of our agreement have been met. You haven't forgotten while you were off playing in the past, have you?"

"Of course not." She answered. "We'll find her."

Ah.

Botan swallowed the cluster of nerves building in her throat at the reminder of Yukina's disappearance. But there was a strength in the Miko's response, a promise in those three words that gave her hope.

They _would_ find the ice maiden.

They would save her.

And soon.

"Does that mean you've got information on the demon that attacked us?" Botan asked as she made her way towards the two to re-group. She wanted more than anything to shake the black clad firecracker and call him a dunderhead for Iunging at their ally and friend the moment she reappeared and maybe even scold the Priestess for that show of explosive retaliation that bruised her bottom, but she needed to focus on the more important matter. The entire reason why Kagome had chosen to leave them in the first place.

The Shadow Beast.

The woman turned to acknowledge her for the first time.

"Later." Was all she said. "When we're all together."

It might have been the stress of the past few days getting to her or shock of the whole weird situation, what with all of the time travel, temporal paradoxes, and secrets floating about, but the weight of it all crashed down right then as she got a closer look at that older version of the girl they'd practically kidnapped and imprisoned. Botan felt herself begin to tear up. Her stride quickened.

Would any of their mess have happened if she hadn't portaled the scared but duty-driven Shikon Guardian to the Spirit world that first day?

Closing the last of the gap between them, Botan threw herself into the open and welcoming arms of the Priestess.

"I've missed you so much!" She cried into her new—and yet somehow old—friend's shoulder and twisted her fingers in the windblown lengths of black hair that swung freely to the woman's ankles.

Kagome blanketed her in warmth when she returned the embrace.

Hiei downright scoffed at the display of emotions. "It's been hardly ten minutes since she left."

"I know." The Grim Reaper sniffed and burbled. "It was the _thought_ of her being gone. It has been _years_ and _years_ for you and—oh, I didn't think your hair could possibly get any longer!"

"Get ahold of yourself." Hiei's voice was blander than rice crackers and held the deeply embedded impression of an eye roll.

"It's fine." Kagome told them both with a chuckle. "I've missed you too. _Both_ of you."

The sound of disgust that the Fire demon made caused Botan to snort.

She pulled back and wiped at her eyes with her long, pink sleeves. "We have so much to catch up on! Well, not _us._ You already know what _we've_ been up to, certainly. But you! I have so many questions! Did you meet the Kagemono? What have you done? _Seen?_ Is Shippo with you? How big has he gotten?"

Kagome shook her head and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, he's not with me. I sent him away on an errand until this mess with Kagami is sorted out. Shippo is the type to jump headfirst into the fray, if I let him. But this is my problem that I need to fix and I don't want him getting hurt fighting my battles for me. But he's so excited to see you again; he's been taking about you all non-stop since you showed up at the last Dark Tournament."

Botan gasped. "He _saw_ that!?"

"Of course! Everyone in _Makai_ saw that! I watched the broadcast, but Shippo just _needed_ to go in person. He blended into the crowd and everyth—Wait." The demoness pressed pause on her train of thought. It seemed that she was just as excited to finally share her stories as Botan was to hear them, but something else was more important. "I'm getting ahead of myself. We can catch up soon, but there are still a few things that I need to take care of here first."

She pointed up to the sky above them, at the barrier that caught the light like a soap bubble to the eyes of the spiritually aware. It was a good barrier, one barely noticeable unless you were looking for it or had passed through the electric energy, but it was old. As it was the barrier stood out like a bullseye on a map; which was exactly what Koenma had pointed out when he'd sent Hiei to Tokyo in the first place under the pretense of checking it out and investigating the girl.

"This needs an upgrade. I worked on it a bit in the 20's, but the original weave is almost 500 years old. Kagami shouldn't know about my family here, but I'm not taking any chances. Then there are a few _other_ things that I need to wrap up."

The Priestess turned to Hiei who had stepped up to perch with his hands in his pockets on what remained of the thick branch she had sacrificed in their little match.

There was grass growing around it, through the snow and through the cobblestones; feeding on her residual energy.

"And I should probably do something about that, too, before the police show up to investigate the noise." She looked from the severed tree limb to the demon. "We can all meet back at Genkai's temple afterwards. Hiei, if you could bring the other detectives up to speed on everything you know while I'm finishing up, to make things go a bit smoother, I would really appreciate it."

He glared at Kagome as if she were an idiot.

"You already asked me to do that."

"Did I?" Her brows knit in thought before she clapped her hands together. "That's right, I did. My bad, it's been a little while. Do you still think you could do that for me?"

"Hn. I won't make any promises."

"I can help!" Botan chimed in, happy to have a task where she was finally in the loop. "We just need to let them know that you went back in time, right?"

"Well, yes. But it's actually a bit more complicated than that."

"Kagome was born as a human." Hiei blurted. "In _this_ era."

Okay, so maybe she wasn't as in the loop as she'd thought.

"What?! You're joking!"

The demoness gave Hiei a withering look before she signed and confirmed. From her skirt's pocket she pulled out the Shikon no Tama by the chain and latched it back in place around her neck "That's the Cliffs Notes version, yeah. I grew up here and started traveling back in time when I was a teenager. It wasn't until the final battle with Naraku that I was transformed by the Jewel into a demon."

As Kagome was talking, the Grim Reaper had pulled her guide book from the folds of her cotton Kimono and started flipping through it.

If what she was saying was true, then certainly...

"What is your date of birth?"

"Hmm?" Kagome asked before seeing the little booklet. "Oh! October 24th, 1981."

Both the Priestess and Hiei watched over Botan's shoulder with curiosity as she flipped through the magically endless pages of her book of the dead. She came to an abrupt stop and skimmed.

"Well I'll be." The Grim Reaper said out loud to nobody in particular. "Kagome Higurashi. Daughter of a widowed ex-shrine maiden. Hard worker but slacking in school. Fiercer loyal to friends and family. Moderately athletic, and enjoys volunteer work and spending time with classmates. Your entire profile is in here! But look at this." She folded the page to reveal the profile of the next person. Where the ink of the second profile was crisp and dark like it had just come off of the printer, Kagome's entry was worn and faded as if someone had tried to erase it. "It's ghosted, but not checked off. Just like Yusuke's." She straightened the page to examine it closer. "It looks like it hasn't been updated for a couple years. But it was completely ghosted just a few months ago."

Kagome tapped the two dates at the bottom of the page. "That was my fifteenth birthday. The day I got pulled down the well. And that was the day of the final battle. The day I stopped being human."

That made sense!

"It seems to not have been able to keep your profile updated after that because you were no longer stationary in our timeline. And, of course, the book of dead only records human lifetimes—"

Botan froze mid-sentence.

She took a closer look at the second date before turning to face Kagome, horror stricken.

"You had only _just_ become—! And we had pulled you away like some sort of fugitive! Poor dear, you must have been so frightened! You must not have known—"

"I know _now."_ Kagome responded, gently grabbing the blue haired girl's shoulder. "You're fine, Botan. I know everything now. You did everything right. Exactly as I needed you to."

In the distance sirens started to sound.

Sirens that could have been prevented if someone had been able to control their firefly temper and _wait_ to spar with the newly grown and mysterious Priestess. Kagome released Botan and took a few steps back.

It was time for them to go.

"I'll clean up here. Let's all meet at Genkai's in about two hours, alright?" She asked before opening a portal beside her.

It opened to a shady spot in the woods, likely the same location in Kyoto where her younger self had woken Hiei earlier that morning. The fire apparition didn't even give an answer before disappearing into the forest in a streak of warped black fabric. Botan was about to follow hesitantly through the strange pink rift—since when could Kagome create portals?—when a hand stopped her.

Kagome smiled softly.

"l think I can trust Hiei to take care of this for me. You go on and head back to Spirit World. Koenma wanted to be the one to talk to you and Yusuke personally. He's had to keep things from the both of you for a very long time, for my sake, and I know that's been eating at him. He cherishes you two very much. Any of the lies he told you or secrets he kept were done because I asked him to keep my existence hidden for the sake of the timeline. He did everything in his power to prevent any changes to the future. So please, forgive him for keeping you in the dark."

The Grim Reaper tore her pink eyes away from Kagome's steady gaze and looked at the ground, ashamed at herself for having been upset with the Spirit Prince when she first realized that he'd been sneaking around and for trying to spy on him. Then she shook her head to clear it of the awful, hurtful thoughts she'd had, put on a calm, neutral expression, and nodded.

Her wooden oar summoned to the palm of her hand and she sat upon it.

"Alright." Botan replied. "Then I'll head to his office straight away. I'll see you in a few hours?"

Kagome brightened.

"I'll see you then."

And then the ferry girl of the River Styx waved and flew off into the sky, leaving behind the shrine with it's thin layer of snow that looked as if a pack of wild kindergartners had just finished running around in it and the enigma of a Demoness who'd grown up on that property as a human child.

She would get her answers soon enough.

══ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ══

It took a little bit for Hiei to gathering his bearings after the portal of cotton-candy glitter snapped shut behind him. He had assumed at first that she would have deposited him right where he'd started off that morning—up Mt. Minato, which was a quick jump to Genkai's temple on Mt. Horai—but he was please to discover that she'd kindly placed him much closer to the city.

Just outside the grounds of the illustrious red Enryakuji temple of Mt. Hiei.

Hilarious.

Rolling his eyes at the woman's attempt at humor, Hiei set off down the forested mountain slopes and into the wards of Kyoto that lay below.

He'd managed to relieve some of his tension during that fight with the fox, and she had done... well.

She wielded her power with control and accuracy, had taken him off guard with her ability to conceal herself and her active energy from the Jagan, and had planned far enough ahead to plant her trap in the God tree well before they had arrived at the shrine that morning—a move that he would have expected from Kurama.

She was cunning.

She was lithe.

She was a _Fox_.

The Fire Youkai thought back to her final threat; that show of power without the power, the confidence that burned in her eyes as she held forward her hand. While he hadn't been able to see the electric energy building there, the hairs on the back of his neck had alerted him to the immediate threat. His sixth sense screamed danger, even when he felt only nothingness between them.

By hiding the extent of the attack behind her distorted barrier and mask of calm focus, she'd ingeniously left it up to his imagination to fill in the blanks.

And he imagined the worst.

A simple but effective form of mental warfare.

Hiei felt oddly... proud that the pitiful little demoness had come so far from the whimpering mess she'd been when she sought after his confidence and comfort in Makai.

Stopping on the metal conductor at the top of a power pole, he checked himself. Gruffly shoving his scarred hands into his pants pocket, the Apparition shook out the falling snow from his hair and glared out over the urban skyline.

No.

He wasn't _proud_ of the woman.

He had no reason to be _proud_ of her.

They didn't have the sort of relationship for him to have such useless emotional responses towards her success. They weren't friends. He didn't even _like_ her, despite what Makuro foolishly believed to be a growing softness for the woman. She was a nuisance through and through.

A fascinating, rapidly evolving beast of a nuisance that had put the whole of her trust in him for no reason whatsoever when all he wanted was to pave the forest with her blood.

Hiei shoved that intrusive thought away. He didn't have time to dissect how he _felt_ about the woman.

Not with Yukina still missing.

Each minute spent not focusing his efforts on his sister was time wasted.

In a mad dash of black, Hiei cleared the remaining districts within a matter of minutes. The shingle roof of the Minamino household greeted him with familiarity and the window to Kurama's bedroom was cracked as it always was for the very purpose of allowing the Fire demon to slip in whenever he needed to speak with the Silver Fox or if it was raining and he happened to desire shelter.

Kuwabara, who was sitting backwards on Kurama's spinning office chair, toe tapping and arms crossed, startled when Hiei appeared behind the glass to yank the window open the rest of the way and dropped down to the wooden floors, muddy boots and all.

The redhead—the _wrong_ redhead—glared at him as if he were a filthy wild pig crashing a Christmas party as he tracked across the room to the closet, dug out a white strip of cloth from the bag he had stashed in the corner, and wrapped it around his forehead.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Hiei spat when his headband was tied tight back into place, although he was secretly pleased that the lug was there for him to bicker with and get his mind away from the Fox—the _wrong_ Fox.

"For your _information,_ Pipsqueak, _Yukina's_ been kidnapped by that insane shadow dude—not that you care or nothin'—and we're not gonna wait around for Yusuke to show up from wherever the heck he's run off to or for Kagome to come back to her senses! We're not just gonna sit here on our hands doin' nothing about it!"

"But you _are_ sitting and doing nothing." Hiei countered.

The damn bursting on his anger, the bulky human jumped to his feet and kicked over the chair a little too hard.

He was absolutely pissed.

And rightfully so.

Hiei might not approve of Kuwabara's disgusting infatuation with his sister, but he did respect that it made the man protective of the girl and her well-being.

"I'm just waiting for Kurama to finish getting ready to go! We _just_ got here!" With a growl that sounded damn near demonic, he ran a hand through his orange curly hair and started pacing the space. After three passes around the felled sitting device Kuwabara stopped to take a deep, ribcage inflating breath. The red splotches that freckled his cheeks in his anger had begun to fade as he turned back to his spiky haired teammate.

"Look." He started, addressing Hiei with more rationality and severity than the little Youkai ever thought possible from the oaf.

"We're heading out to Genkai's to gather information. It might not be much, but at least it's _something_. You gonna come? I've got no clue where Yusuke is. We called his place but he didn't answer. No one picked up at Genkai's either—not that that's weird. She never picks up. it's all just makin' me really jumpy, ya know? The not knowing."

"Did you try his communicator?"

"Of _course_ we did. It was the first thing I tried. Give me a little credit; I'm not as stupid as you like to think I am."

It was no good.

Hiei had actually looked forward to the banter that he usually parried with the oversized walking dumpling. Berating the man usually gave his cold heart a sense of satisfaction and helped to cool his jets, but Kuwabara wasn't any fun to mess with when he was genuinely upset to the point of being sensible.

With a sigh the demon slumped back against the windowsill.

"Keiko is still at Genkai's, so he doubtfully would have strayed far."

The two detectives turned to look at Kurama as he entered his bedroom and shut the door behind him. With properly dried hair and a fresh outfit that hadn't been pulled from his hamper in a rush, he looked ready to conquer the day. If the day was a job interview at the local bank and not the looming threat of battle, what with that white dress shirt and pressed slacks.

Ignoring the Fire demon's judgmental stare, he gave the dirt on his freshly cleaned floors an accusatory glance, walked over to the closet door that Hiei'd failed to close, and pulled from it a green corduroy drawstring bag that was stuffed with what Hiei presumed were proper fighting garments. After the bag was swung over his shoulder, the Fox made a point to slide back the door slowly until it clicked.

"Kagome had something important that she needed to take care of, but we left a message with Shizuru so that she will be aware of where we are at." The Kitsune continued as if he hadn't just been non-verbally chiding Hiei. His green eyes, dark and narrowed with skepticism, fell on his ally and friend for the first time. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about her sudden errand, would you Hiei?"

Hiei glowered to smother his amusement.

There was no way in hell that he was going to comply with the Vixen's wishes and tell Kurama about her predicament. It was going to be way more entertaining to watch the Fox squirm as things played out around his ignorance.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A bolt of lightning crackled within the weight of the storm clouds building in the room.

Kurama stepped close to the much shorter demon—so close that they were nearly touching and Hiei was forced to crane his neck to look up at the Fox looming over him—and placed his glamoured human hand on the wood at the top of the window's frame, above Hiei's head. They stared at each other, battling it out in a clash of willpower nearly as intense as the fight Hiei had just had with Kagome. Despite the force of the two thousand year old Kitsune's glare and the pressure of their auras building within the room, he kept his expression closed and his mind tightly sealed.

Suddenly, like the turning of a tap, Kurama's aura snapped back under its usual restraints.

"Of course." He said; his voice cool, calm and pleasant.

A sure sign that he was completely livid.

Just for the sake of adding kerosene to the flames, Hiei added. "But she's bound to show up eventually. You know how fickle Foxes can be."

The taller Youkai shut the window behind Hiei with a bit more force than was necessary. The panes of glass vibrated.

"Uh, guys?" Kuwabara asked hesitantly.

Kurama made an abrupt about turn and made to exit through the front door like the normal human being that he never truly was.

"Let's head out." He said to Kuwabara as he passed.

Hiei smirked as he pushed away from his spot against the window and followed the two men out of the house and into the

streets of the city.

His anticipation for the events that would follow were going to far outweigh the guilt he felt for not complying with Kagome's wishes.

Exponentially.

═══════ Tsarashi ══════════

Light as a feather, Kagome touched down on the stone steps that led to the ocean behind Genkai's temple.

Over the years, as she learned to control the placement of the Jewel's portal beyond simply locking on to a specific person's energy signal and opening blindly, the Priestess also learned to appear _outside_ of where people were most likely to gather—or better, she'd been told to by Ginta, who she'd scared half to death more times than she could count by popping up behind him out of the blue.

The Tori arch at the top of the grassy hill heralded her like a weary old matriarch against the backdrop of luscious forest new-growth created by her younger blast of untamed energy. Its already faded red stain had been scarred by the wave of lesser demons that had wandered out that far, but the structure refused to fall. It was tenacious and sturdy.

And hopefully, Kagome thought as she stepped over the thin crack in the stone paving at the top landing with a grimace, it was a sign that things were going to progress smoothly from then on out.

She stopped there, before the slab of rock turned into the beaten dirt path to the Temple.

Her nose twitched at the harsh scent of tobacco, but she was able to ignore it.

"Master Genkai." The Kitsune addressed as she turned to face the short elder who was leaning casually against the wide pole of the arch and smoking one of her full bodied cigarettes.

Blowing a cottony cloud of the white smoke, the old woman held up her hand to prevent Kagome from saying anything else before she could speak.

"Koenma just left. He let us know that you'd be stopping by."

"He did." The Fox breathed.

"Yeah, he did." Genkai paused again to take a long drag. Her voice was gruff when she spoke again, but not angry as she had been the last time the two of them spoke. "So, you're the Guardian of the Realms, huh?"

"Yeah." Kagome repeated, mirroring the older woman's blasé attitude. "That's me."

"Hmmf." Genkai grunted at that. "It's always something with you damn kids."

And then she smirked.

Just like that the tension of their reunion blew away like the smoke on the wind. Kagome found herself able to laugh and relax as Genkai pushed away from the wood and started leading them down the path and into the woods.

"It's good to see you again, Genkai."

"You sure took your sweet time getting here. Didn't think to pop in before my home was destroyed?"

The Priestess' smile faltered, but only for a second. "You know I couldn't have."

"Someone who actually _follows_ the rules. Great. That's going to take some getting used to." The ancient martial arts master scoffed and stopped on the side of the trail where a strawberry vine had decided to start growing up the trunk of a young cypress and snuffed out her cigarette butt with the heel of her shoe. She waved her hand as if swatting away a fly, even though the bugs were too preoccupied with the fruit to bother them. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, now. Everything's back up and I even got some upgrades out of it. That old tube TV was starting to get staticky."

The two of them talked a bit more about the little things that had changed in the rebuilt main building as they walked towards it: the new refrigerator with doors that didn't squeak, the fresh tatami that no longer had burn marks from Yusuke's training, the strange new panel in the bathroom that kept the tub water warm, and even the old pottery that had been replaced with equally old and valuable pieces. They'd just begun discussing the tragic loss of her _Street_ _Fighter_ save files when they finally turned out of the forest and into the cleanly landscaped courtyard. When Kagome stopped walking and dropped the conversation, Genkai didn't comment. instead the human elder continued along the stepping stones, up the new steps, and disappeared passed the Spirit Detective hanging out in the open doorway.

The Fox currently disguised as a human who'd spent the last four hundred and fifty years hiding as a Wolf swallowed when she caught herself staring.

Unfortunately, the guidebook she'd given herself stopped giving her hints and events of the future the moment her younger self returned to the past, the moment she'd caught up to the present.

From that point on her duty as Guardian and Koenma's adviser was a job that she would have to do on her own, relying on her personal experiences and history to give her insight and predictions for events and choices to come.

However it didn't matter how many months she'd been preparing herself for that particular reunion. Yusuke was very much a loose cannon and nothing she did could foretell what would happen when he saw her again after learning the truth.

All she could do was stand tall.

"So." He started, eyeballing her slightly older form up and down like he was taking in a new opponent in the ring. "You're really her. Kumiko the Seer."

"Yeah. I was Kumiko."

"The whole time?"

"The whole time."

The Mazoku clenched his fist and even at that distance the Demoness could see the fire building within those red-brown eyes of his. Anger, frustration, and hurt rolled off him in both waves of scent and slips of leaked energy.

"You played me. You played me like a freaking fiddle."

Kagome didn't flinch at how sharp his words were. They felt more like a wooden stake to the chest than a simple declaration of the truth, but then, Yusuke was never one to hide the bitter grit of his emotions.

A trait that she had very much taken advantage of.

The Black Fox nodded and told him the truth, because he deserved the truth. "I did." His jaw flexed. Her eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Yusuke."

She watched, still and steady, as he jerked away from the sliding wooden door and stormed down the steps like leopard moving in for the kill, each step quicker than the last. She braced for impact when he pulled her close by the collar of her jacket as he had done the mere night before in Koenma's office, when she was still the Wolf with foresight to guide their path and he was none the wiser.

After the emotional roller-coaster that she'd just put him through, Kagome felt like she actually deserved to be on the other end of his fury this time.

The Kitsune _wanted_ him to be angry with her.

But Yusuke Urameshi was never one to comply with people's wishes and expectations so easily.

Instead of tearing into her, the Spirit Detective threw his arms around her neck and pulled her into an uncomfortably tight and stiff embrace.

After a silent moment of confusion, Kagome tried to pull away.

"Yusuke." She began, but he shook his head and refused to let go. He had her so close against his chest that she wasn't even able to pull back far enough to see the expression on his face. There were so many emotions clouding his scent that it was nearly impossible to differentiate between them and sort through the mess at such close quarters. It was like trying to tell each drink that was used to make the mystery punch.

Even though he'd been a demon for nearly five years, his emotions were strong, unpredictable, and still very human. And if he was anything like her—which he _was_ considering they had both started their lives as one thing before becoming something else entirely—that was likely never going to change.

Briefly Kagome wondered if that was how she came across to Sesshoumaru and Shizume when she was upset; what they had only ever been able to describe as her ingrained humanity that still managed to catch them off guard, even after so long.

Or perhaps Yusuke's was unique. He was a hybrid, after all, not a full blooded demon like she had become.

That whirlwind mixture of demon and human. Human and demon.

it was almost overwhelming.

"I hit you." He eventually said over her head.

The ridged stiffness that had worked its way into her shoulder blades fell loose. She released her breath, wrapped an arm up to place a slender hand on his shoulder, and nodded against him.

"You did. Knocked me pretty good, too."

" _You_ told me to be a jackass to you. The _now_ you told me to _hit_ the _younger_ you."

"I did." When he growled, she added. "You don't need to apologize for that Yusuke. You just said it. _I_ made you do it. I'm not upset with you—"

"But you _were_ , though, right?" He demanded. His tone was accusatory and rising with anger. Not that really meant anything. He used that tone a lot. It was the same tone he'd used when he scolded the little boy that he saved from the car the first time he died.

"This whole stupid thing is making my head hurt and I don't really get how any of it works. I'm totally _peeved_ that you've been hiding undercover behind my back for who-frickin-knows how long. I'm _pissed_ at _Koenma_ for keeping it from me. I mean come on! The toddler keeps pulling secrets out of his ass and presenting them on a silver fucking platter every time shit's hitting the fan. You'd think I'd be able to do my goddamn job better and _prevent_ this shit if you bastards were just upfront about everything from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, fate of the future and all that noise. I get it. Seriously. But l also get that l ripped a freaked out, depressed, defenseless girl a new one, physically _assaulted_ her, and then she lived with that for hundreds of years."

Yusuke stopped just long enough to take a breath. "You know _now_ that you're the one that had me do it. But how long did you _not_ know that?" The anger in his throat that was projecting his voice cracked. His final question was much, much quieter. "How long did you hate me, Kagome?"

The boy was smart.

Not book smart and law abiding, like Kuroko had been, or a calculating genius like Sensui. He was emotionally smart, able to reason through actions and interactions once his initial outburst had passed. Once he'd had time to settle his thoughts and think things through thoroughly. It was what held him back from taking his teacher's life for the sake of power during the Dark Tournament. It was what allowed him to befriend those who had once aimed to put his head on a pike, and to accept some of the hardest truths that Koenma had thrown at him over the years, between the more comfortable realms of black and white.

It was what made him the best detective of the three.

The Atavism would have known if she lied to him then. Not because he could smell the changes in her scent, or could read it in her voice, but because he already knew the answer.

"A long time." Kagome confided. "l was angry with you for a long time."

His already solid hold around her shoulders tightened.

"Good. You should have been."

"But I was also grateful."

"Noo." Yusuke hissed like an exasperated child and dropped his chin on her head, smooshing the relatively small Fox further.

"I might not have made the decision to leave without you. You were an important piece of the puzzle that built my timeline."

"No, don't do that. Don't justify this. Be mad. Be pissed. Make me feel like dirt and tell me to make it up to you."

Yusuke had an honor code, no matter how screwed up it seemed to the casual observer. He was quite egalitarian when it came to beating people up. Everyone was fair game According to him, he never had a problem hitting a girl, an old foagy, or even a toddler, _so long as they deserved it_ —Kagome doubted that he would have ever hit an actual toddler, no matter what they deserved, but he didn't seem to have any problems hitting Koenma to prove a point during his fight with Sensui, and the Prince has still yet to reach his celestial childhood, so she counted that.

By forcing him to do something so against his personal beliefs—to torment someone so undeserving of it—Kagome felt that she'd been as bad as Risen when the ancient Mazoku had taken over the boy's body to deliver the finishing blow to the suicidal Sensui.

But this he wasn't blaming _her_ as she had expected.

Having the victim and the antagonizer being the same person seemed to have thrown a wrench in his usual pattern.

"You might not care anymore, but that whole party is still fresh for me. It happened _yesterday._ Or, like, a couple days ago. _Recently._ And the version of you that I hurt isn't here to accept my stupid apology."

Using her demonic strength—certainly more than he was expecting—Kagome pried herself back.

"You want to make it up to me?" She asked, incredulous at the very thought of it.

Yusuke released her to rake his hands through the loose, clean strands of his hair. He must have been too stressed to do it up in its usual gel that morning. That or maybe it was because he'd stayed at Genkai's place and there wasn't a supply of his products in the newly restocked bathroom.

He let out a long breath through his teeth.

"What do I have to do?"

For a while Kagome said nothing. She stared at the young Hanyou and mulled over the absurdity of their situation.

Neither one of them wanted an apology from the other. Both of them wanted anger from the other party, not forgiveness. Both thought they themselves were in the wrong.

It was a temporal paradox of who hurt who, an ever turning cycle of blame; a chicken and the egg.

They could have argued about it for the rest of time without ever coming to an agreement on just who was the victim and who was the culprit.

So Kagome did what she thought was best to extend a truce between them.

She extended her hand, and laid down her list of demands.

"You can start making it up to me by becoming my ally." Before he could protest she added. "And you can help me finish what I started with Kagami."

Yusuke started dumbly at the hand. His frizzy eyebrows knit together. "Wait. Koenma just told me you wanted to beat the punk on your own."

"Would that have stopped you from joining the fight?"

Those eyebrows shot up into the mop of his hair. "Hell no!" His own hands curled tight into fists at his sides. "That nutcase already fucked with me and Hiei, Stole Kurama's _face,_ kidnapped my friend, and seriously hurt my girlfriend. His ass is grass."

"So instead of acting as a vigilante against somebody you know nothing about, fight alongside me." The Kitsune took care to word her request in a way he would want to hear; to pacify both his desire to fix the pain he'd caused the younger Kagome and to get back at the man who'd caused such a stir. "Help me fix this, and that'll more than make up for what your actions put me through."

The detective's stare moved from her offered peace torch to her face and his eyes squinted as he scrutinized her. Then, when he found something in her determination that he found agreeable, he let his fists loosen. Yusuke scratched at his hairline before finally slapping his hand in hers.

It felt like a contract more than a handshake.

"I guess that's something I can do." He said that, but it was obvious that he still wasn't completely satisfied. "What else?"

That was an easy one.

"Be my friend."

The noise that scoffed from Yusuke's throat was a lot lighter hearted, more amused than annoyed, and that relieved the Fox.

"That's not a real demand and you know it. What else?"

Ice broken, Kagome decided to hit a touchier subject matter.

"Then let me heal Keiko."

The Mazoku froze.

His eyes were as sharp as glass as he silently interrogated her once more. Kagome could see the hairs rise on his arm. But then he swallowed and the spring coiled up inside of him unraveled completely. The worry that he'd been holding back crashed down on the boy in one big, curling wave of relief.

So protecting the woman he loved really was his demonic urge.

That was fascinating considering that generally a Mazoku's urge was to amass power. It was because of this that they were considered to be one of the most powerful—if not _the_ most powerful—races of demons that existed in humanoid form. Their potential had no cap. The only thing proven to stem their growth was death itself.

Death or, it seemed, love.

It appeared that Raisen had passed on more than just his genes and his demonic energy to his ancestral son. He had passed on the trait that had gotten the ruler to completely ignore his own inborn urge and diet for so many decades. While that love had resulted in Raisen's ultimate loss of control and death, it had become Yusuke's greatest strength and driving factor.

"Shit. I've been waiting for you to say that." Yusuke said in a long breath. Bitterness finally colored within the lines of his relief when his grip on her hand squeezed into a vice and he pulled her forward. "She's inside. Her temperature went back up after Yukina disappeared. That gash on her back is mostly gone, but she's been in so much pain. You know you're really a dick, right? You could've just let Little Kagome heal her. Even then your power was stronger than Genkai and Yukina's combined, right? I mean, you fixed up Kurama like it was nothing."

The Priestess allowed herself to be dragged inside, past the great empty greeting room with its clean new tatami mats and Buddha statue, and into the more modern living area.

"I was afraid it would've given me a sense of purpose." She admitted when they made it to the short row of guest rooms where she had found herself recovering so long ago. She left out the fact that her Miko healing only worked so well on Kurama because it was a wound that her own powers had inflicted it to begin with. "Little Kagome, that is." She added, using his pet name for her younger self to easily differentiate the both of them.

Yusuke stopped, dropped her hand and grimaced.

"Dude. Harsh." Was all he said before pushing open the door to the room where they'd moved Keiko when she'd woken that morning.

Genkai was already in there, beginning to remove the bandages that were binding the girl's torso.

"Well, here she is." Yusuke announced. For a brief moment Kagome thought he was talking to her. He wasn't. "The mighty

Guardian of the Realms, at your service."

The air in the room by every right should have been tense and heavy.

But thanks to Koenma's visit to the temple to tell them her story, all that lingered was... curiosity, really.

Curiosity and the Zing of rubbing alcohol.

Politely, the demoness bowed her head. "It's nice to see you again, Keiko."

"Wow." Came the human girl's delicate exclamation. "You really don't look much different at all."

The distance between them in the small room was closed in just a few steps. Kagome reached over to pick up where Genkai had left off with the wrappings, but paused to glance back at Yusuke for confirmation before coming into contact with the skin of his injured girlfriend.

The Detective raised his hands. "Hey, don't look at me. The 'no touching' rule was your idea. Go to town."

A gentle smile warmed her lips. "Just checking." She said before turning back to her patient.

"May I?"

Keiko blushed and averted her eyes. But she did nod her permission.

So Kagome continued to unwind the dressing. They must have been changed recently, because there was very little blood or sticky platelets gluing the clean strips to the open sore that still remained just beneath where the lowest rib connected to her spine. It wasn't caked tight to her back as it probably had been when she woke up that morning, but it was still stuck enough to pull and make the girl flinch.

Keiko bit her lip throughout the process, but she didn't cry.

Compared to how the gash had been when it first happened, it was actually healing quite well thanks to the diligence and care of the Ice Maiden.

While the Demoness was focused on her task, Genkai turned to Yusuke who was still lingering in the open doorway.

"Get out, dimwit."

"What!?" The Atavism responded. His stupid grin and amusement made a poor mask for his concern. "Why? It isn't anything that I haven't seen before!"

Kagome almost lost her grip when Keiko jerked to throw a pillow at his face.

"Don't be lewd Yusuke." Keiko scolded in a matriarchal voice that rivaled her own when she was forced to chide the unruly Wolf pups at the den.

Yusuke's barking cackle echoed in the living room. "Lewd? Who, me? Never!" He caught the second pelted pillow and groaned with all the dramatics that his comedic defense mechanisms could muster. "Fine. I'm going, I'm going!" He eventually conceded and began backing out. "See? This is me leaving and not looking at my girlfriend's tits. Jeez, if you kick me out when you give birth too I'm gonna really be pissed. I'll be right out here!"

He had to yell the last but after Genkai slammed the door on his nose.

Then the old woman raised her eyebrow.

"Girl, you're not...?

"No!" Keiko was a burning bush of flustered embers. "I'm not. _He_ wants them but I told him we need to wait until we're married, first. But even then..."

Even then Keiko was going to age and grow old as any other normal human while Yusuke was going to remain his sprightly young self for a very, _very_ long time, and it seemed that most everyone around him had realized that except for the Detective himself.

Neither woman pressed her further.

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes after that as Kagome discarded the rest of the bandages and stripped the patch from her arm that covered a different scratch. The skin beneath was still raw, but the infection she'd contracted the night after the attack was completely cleared from her system.

Koorime were like natural Z-Packs.

It was impressive, really. While the Miko worked wonders on battle wounds, disease was completely out of the realm of her ability. Infection fell somewhere between the two in terms of difficulty. Bacteria were tenacious little buggers that had a bad habit of hiding from purity in spots completely unrelated to the wound itself and festering anew some two days later.

But Yukina had cleansed it from the girl's entire system like cold spring water filtering through charcoal.

With a word of warning, Kagome touched the girl's back where the sore was the worst and began to heal. Keiko released a gasp when the warm, soothing glow seeped into her skin and illuminated the space around them while Genkai supervised.

Once the initial shock of the new sensation had settled—Kagome's heat-pack tingled compared to the numbing of Yukina's cold compress—the human girl began to fill the quiet of the room with the thoughts that had been eating at the back of her mind.

"I knew you were a demon." She started, quietly at first and staring at her hands lying on the blanket that covered her lap. "Everyone said so. But I guess... I didn't really see you as one before. But now you're, well, l think l can see it now. You look different. It's not that noticeable—maybe I wouldn't have even noticed without Koenma telling us—but you do look older. However I can't help but wonder..."

Her words drifted off.

Kagome was about to say something when Keiko spoke up again, her words tumbling one after another in a rush to find freedom.

"Is this it? Is this really you this time? Was this whole time travel thing a one-time deal, or will you go back again?" The brunette cupped her flushing cheeks and looked away, even though Kagome was behind her and already out of view. "I'm sorry, I'm prying."

After everything that Keiko had gone through with Yusuke; his multiple deaths and resurrections, his disappearances to the Demon World and bouts of training, it was perfectly understandable why she would want to know if her new acquaintance was going to be a permanent fixture or just another heartbreak waiting to happen.

The young mortal woman jumped a little bit when Kagome brushed her brown hair back from over her shoulder and moved to the cut on her bicep.

"No, go ahead. Pry away."

Keiko swallowed.

Then she dove right in.

"It's not just that." She began, brown eyes trained on the knit of the blanket she was worrying. "I've seen demons change. I saw Kurama's other side during that tournament, and Yusuke jokes sometimes about Hiei being green. And there were others. It's hard for me to trust what I see, with demons. But I want to trust you. You, or at least the younger you that I knew, seemed like a really good person. I want to get to know you. And I want you to be able to be yourself, when you don't have to hide. I'm not totally naive. You haven't been yourself for so long—Koenma said you've been pretending to be someone else for over four hundred years, which is such a long time. And Kurama hasn't either. I know he lost his human form and he's just been acting like nothing's changed. I know that you two are pretending to be human for our sake. Forgive me if I'm wrong or if I'm being too presumptuous. I don't really know how any of this works." Keiko glanced down to watch as the scrape on her arm stitched itself together in a timelapse of the normal healing process. "But I want you to know that I won't be scared, you know, if you are different. You can be open with me."

When Kagome was finished and satisfied with her work, she let her hands fall to the mattress. The one on her back did scar a little bit, just a little pucker of a white star, but the Priestess had expected that to happen because she hadn't gotten to it right away and the scar tissue had begun to form on it's own. It could have certainly been worse. But her arm looked as good as new. Then, inspection complete, Kagome pushed herself up and crawled up to sit cross-legged in front of the girl.

She took Keiko's hands in her own and squeezed them.

"It was a one time deal. From here on out I'm stuck in the present." She reassured the younger girl with a warm smile. "Keiko, I want you to be able to trust me. I want you to trust that I'll protect you and your friends from now on. And I want you to trust that I won't be keeping anymore secrets from you."

Kagome looked across the room to where Genkai was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, looking deceptively bored and like she was not at all listening in to every word of their heart-to-heart.

"Master Genkai, would you mind if..."

The old woman scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm insulted that you're even asking."

Nodding, the Kitsune turned back to the younger of the two human women and closed her eyes. Soft and serene. Slowly, so not to spook the girl, she pulled at the remaining threads of the glamour that she'd held onto relentlessly since Koga had been killed. She stripped herself of every mask and seal aside from the most important one at the core of her being that held her aura under lock and key—the aura that Kagami was able to track as easily as finding the only red tree in an otherwise empty field of flowers.

For the first time in four hundred and fifty years, Kagome lay her truest appearance bare.

Her long, silky black tail spilled from beneath her combat skirt to curl up and over her thighs.

The tall, sensitive ears topping her head were trained on the heartbeat of the girl in front of her.

And when she opened her blue eyes, they glowed from within like starlit jellyfish shining beneath tropical waves of ocean blue.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself this time. My name is Kagome Higurashi and I am a Kitsune. But when I was born, I was born a human. When we first met, you were actually older than me by a few years. I used to protect the Jewel that separated the three worlds, now my job is to protect those three Realms and act as the adviser to Koenma. I know it's only been a few days for you, but it's been a little bit longer than that for me. So please trust me when I say; it is _really_ good to see you again, Keiko."

There were stars shining in Keiko's eyes.

No. Wait. Those were tears.

The saline scent of Keiko's happiness had just begun to tickled the tip of Kagome's nose when the demoness pulled the girl into a hug—one much more delicate than the manhandling that Yusuke had given the Fox earlier.

"I'm so sorry, Keiko. You have every right to blame me for this. You were hurt so badly because of me."

The brunette shook her head and returned the embrace. "No way. I won't blame you for what happened. You came all this way—lived all that time—to fix things, right?"

"That was the plan."

"They you're _fine._ I am upset. I'm upset with the man who hurt me. But until you lash out at me directly, I won't blame you for anything, Kagome."

"Oh, Keiko." Kagome twined her fingers in the girl's brown hair and smooshed her in the Demoness' most maternal embrace. "You're angelic. Yusuke doesn't deserve you half of the time, but you've really been a blessing for that boy."

As if summed by black magic, Yusuke took it upon himself to barge into the guest room at that exact moment, communicator in hand.

"Hey, Kuwabara and the others are— _oh."_ The Kitsune turned to look at the young Detective, her vulpine ears pinned back to the top of her head. Then he grinned from ear to ear. "So that's a thing."

Kagome reached behind Keiko to pull a blanket over the girl's bare shoulders to protect the girl's modesty before removing herself from the bed.

"You said that they're here?"

Yusuke craned his neck to stare at her swishing tail with unedited fascination. "Uh, yeah." He stumbled over the words before blushing and rubbing the back of his neck when he realized he was staring at something coming from the backside of a woman other than his girlfriend. "On their way at least, the message was pretty old—You know, that's a lot bigger than Kumiko's."

With a firm chuck, using her newly healed muscles, Keiko through her last pillow at him.

The two started bickering, which gave the Priestess an opening to slip out of the room and into the empty hallway, closing the door gently as she left.

She felt them long before she saw them.

As she made her way back through the living area and greeting hall of the temple's main building, Kagome locked onto Hiei's bitter aura that grossly overpowered any of the others there, simply because the Fire Demon had no reason to restrain his aura for her alone. His burnt sugar scent soon followed.

Kuwabara was just cresting the long ancient staircase to the front entrance when she slid open the wooden door and stepped barefoot onto the deck. He was the first one to see her. However, he didn't smile and wave as she'd expected him to.

Instead he stopped at the top step, confusion clouding his expression.

He'd seen her ears and tail before, so surely that wasn't what made him pause.

He must have expected her to look at least the slightest bit older, now that he knew of her travels.

But no... It was almost as if he was seeing something so foreign, so completely out of place from what he'd intended to find there at Genkai's temple.

It was almost as if he hadn't expected her to be there at all.

From the trees behind the carrot top flit Hiei in his customary blur of black billowing fabrics. He didn't even give the Demoness a passing glance as he took up a spot on the deck some five paces beside her. Instead, he was staring intently at the stairs.

Perhaps he was pissy because she'd refused to drop the extent of her glamour during their little fight, but she was now standing fully exposed within the safety of the secluded temple grounds.

Or perhaps...

Kagome watched with bated breath as the third member of their party came into view, his shock of crimson hair rising slowly from the pathway.

The Silver Fox's ascent slowed when he asked Kuwabara what the matter was.

Then, when he looked across the courtyard to the female Kitsune fully garbed in her blue regalia, his steps halted completely. The glamoured green of his eyes widened. His lips parted.

Confusion.

Perhaps Hiei hadn't told them a single thing.

Amusement danced from the demon next to her. If she'd been able to tear her eyes from Kurama at that moment she was sure that she would have seen a smirk on his lips and dark humor in the reds of his pupils as he watched the minds of his friends spin and turn helplessly out of control.

"Hiei." Kagome eventually said like a curse under her breath. "You're a jackass."

═════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ════

 **Chapter Nine: End**

 **(I know you have all been waiting patiently for this, and I'm sorry that it took so long. But look! 14,000 words!)**


	10. Secrets Unfold

**Chapter Ten: Secrets Unfold**

 **Koenma's Office, Spirit World**

 **Six Years Prior**

"Did you know about this!? What am I saying, of course you knew about this." Koenma paced restlessly in front of his desk, worrying his pacifier. "My dad's going to kill me when he gets back. How am I even going to explain what happened!?"

The toddler slipped his hands beneath his bulbous hat to pull at his hair and muffle a scream.

"It just doesn't make any sense! Hiei might not have any prior convictions yet in the Human World, he's started painting his name around in blood back in Makai, and Goki is a multiple offender, but there's _no_ way they would have been able to slip past all of those security measures on their own! They're simple thugs, not masterminds! And _this_ kid!" He pointed to one of the camera stills that'd been swept from his desk and scattered to the floor. "He's just a human boy! Barely older than Yusuke! And Yusuke has more spirit energy than him, to boot! How did he even get caught up with those two!? Tell me, Guardian, _how_ did they do it!?"

The brown haired Kumiko stepped around the mess he'd made during his tantrum and picked up a grainy photo; Kurama's shocking red hair was blurred around the edges and a shadow obscured most of his face. He looked so young, but Kumiko knew better than to be fooled by his appearance.

"Do you happen to remember the bandit, Youko Kurama?"

Not at all caught off guard by the woman's drastic change of subject, as she had a habit of doing that, Koenma laughed. "How could I not! He was a nuisance back before Makai existed and he still managed to cause trouble for me in the Demon Realm! He had no loyalties and an infamous skillset to back up his threats. Even my dad was wary of him—which was why dad hired Shunjun right on the spot. He did the impossible and killed the ghost of a legend."

As he was speaking the Wolf demoness collected all of the files, photos, and incident reports from the ground. By the time she set them on the Mahogany desk, Koenma had scrambled up to his intimidatingly large office chair that he still hadn't grown into.

"What if I told you that Kurama hasn't been killed?" She asked him with a surreptitious glance to gauge his reaction.

Indignation quickly turned to shock, which then wilted to dread. The Spirit World prince steepled his fingers as his manner fell grave and serious. "I'd be more than a little inclined to believe you."

He didn't ask for any proof to back up her outrageous claim; she didn't need proof. The Priestess usually spoke in indefinites, guiding him to come to his own conclusions and decisions with assurances of coulds, shoulds, and mights. If she said something was so, then it was so, without question.

He put the least common denominators together.

"So that human boy?"

Kumiko nodded.

"How is that possible?"

"He preformed a soul transfer."

Koenma jolted. "He survived a soul transfer!?"

Again Kumiko nodded, determined to give him only the essential details.

The little prince groaned against his fingertips. "I _just_ put Yusuke on the case! I didn't have much to go on, and I was in a panic—he picked up on the Spirit Gun so _quickly,_ I thought he'd be fine. But if _that's_ who we're dealing with, then this is far too dangerous for him. He's still just a fledgling detective, he isn't _ready_ to face an A-Class bandit like _Youko Kurama_ head on. He'd crush our boy like a bug!"

This time Kumiko shook her head.

"No?" He asked. "No what? No he won't bug-crush Yusuke, or are you expressing your dismay at the thought of attending Yusuke's second funeral? Please don't be cryptic right now."

"No," Kumiko said with a frown. She pushed the stack of pictures towards him with the clearest shot of the teenage changeling on top of the pile. "I think you have it backwards. Moving his soul from one body to another would have completely wiped out Koenma's demonic energy. It's unlikely that he would have recovered all of it by now. And with Yusuke, while his powers are still new, they're growing faster than you ever expected, aren't they?"

She went on without giving him time to answer. "But you're focusing too much on the surface. They both have something special that you're not taking into consideration."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Human compassion."

Koenma was silent for a minute as her words sank in. Then he barked out a hearty laugh.

"For Yusuke, maybe! Small it it may be, I'm starting to see it more and more in him." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the glass box sitting on the bookshelf behind him. Inside it on a little square pillow sat the golden spirit beast egg that Yusuke believed he'd sacrificed completely in order to save Keiko's life from that house fire back when he was still a ghost. Really, he'd just used up the reserves of power it had stored, resetting the beast's progress and growth back to the beginning. "But Youko Kurama? If that really is him, he'd only have been human for fifteen years! There is no way that would be long enough for a demon like him to learn compassion!"

Kumiko met him with a flat look. "I was only human for eighteen years. Was that not long enough for me to learn humanity?"

With a gulp, Koenma pulled the line taut and reeled back fast to amend his statement. "That's _different._ " He insisted. "You were born human."

"Shuichi Minamino was born human."

The toddler grumbled and sat back into his chair. "Yes, but he has the bias of thousands of years behind him. That isn't something you just shake overnight."

"Then why continue to masquerade in a family setting for so long? He's reached an age where humans can autonomously care for themselves and he is intelligent enough to find the means to survive on his own. Why, then, would he continue living with a human woman if he didn't hold some sort of attachment towards her?"

At that, Koenma hummed and crossed his arms over his chest. He closed his eyes to think over whether or not that fact held substance—he'd already looked into the boy's home life, and he _did_ seem to have a good relationship with his sickly mother. But the demon was a blood-hardened bandit for Pete's sake. A _Kitsune_ bandit, on top of that. Not that bringing up his breed in defense of stigma was going to go over well with the disguised Kitsune hovering defensively in front of him. He could practically feel the woman's stare as he sank further and further into the cushions, hoping that the seat would eat him whole in order to spare him from that particular argument.

He adored and respected the Shikon Priestess as his adviser, he really did. She was an invaluable asset to his team and the Realms would have been lost five times over without her to guide him. But she had a tenacious habit of dragging him kicking and screaming in the gentlest of ways out of his comfort zone. Always with a smile.

Thankfully, The Prince didn't need to speak his thoughts out loud, because Kumiko drove the conversation down a different fork in the path when she said "There's something I need for you to do, and I know you're not going to like it."

A sheen of sweat formed on his brow. Koenma cracked open a single brown eye to dissect the Wolf. The table between them felt twice as long as she mirrored his closed off pose by crossing her own arms and stood rigid. That made him hesitate; more than he would have at hearing her ominous tone alone.

Maybe he _should_ have brought up the Fox stereotype to deviate.

"What?" He eventually asked with a gulp.

Kumiko shut her green eyes and took a breath as if preparing to take a blind leap of faith into the black abyss with only his trust to tether her to the surface.

Okay, so it wasn't nearly that dramatic, but his nerves were sure making it feel that way.

"I know it's something you've never done before, and Enma would never allow it if here were here." She began. "But while he's away, I need you to give both Kurama and Hiei a second chance. Once this case is all said and done."

Koenma's mouth fell open. The room was so still that they could nearly hear the shuffling and frantic hollering of the Ogre's on the other side of the soundproof doors.

And then he shrieked.

"You want me to _what_!?"

"I want you to consider offering them parole."

His hands didn't know what to so. They gripped the arms rests, pinched the bridge of his nose, and straightened his hat before he could bring himself to speak. "You want me to—you're nuts!" The little ruler jumped up. "You're talking about pardoning two dangerous demons! You might be able to argue for Kurama. If he can prove himself. _Maybe_. But Hiei!? That one's got a body count higher than the hairs on his head! And now he's trying to destroy all of humanity with the demon sword!"

"He was _trying_ to use that sword as a means to find his sister."

Koenma stumbled, almost falling into the desk. " _Sister_? What sister!?"

The Ookami waved her hand to brush away the slip. "I've dealt with that sword before—"

"Don't I know it! You guys were the reason why I had to fish it out of hell and lock it in the vault in the first place! Do you know how much trouble that could have caused if the wrong being—if _any_ being—in hell got their hands on that thing!?"

Kumiko continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "It gets into the wielder's mind and completely changes their intentions. Being stored in the Spirit Realm for so long definitely put a damper on So'unga's power and influence, but Hiei is just weak enough right now for it to affect him. His desperation is making him malleable, and he still hasn't recovered from that surgery he had to get the Jagan implanted. Once you get that sword away from him, you may just find that his motives don't stray too far from your own. More or less."

Koenma groaned. "How can you be so sure?" He asked and flushed when the time traveler raised an eyebrow in response. With a huff, he stepped up onto the top of his desk and started pacing once more. He paused long enough to pick up one of the security camera stills that had all three of the intruders circled in red marker. "What about Goki?"

"Hmm?" Kumiko craned to look over his shoulder at the picture as he fretted. The horned beast of a demon towered over the other two in the frame. "Well, he wasn't mentioned in my Guidebook, so probably isn't that important. You should have Botan keep a close eye on Yusuke, Just in case he needs help." Quickly after that she added. "But whatever you do, don't interfere when he meets Kurama. You need to see how that plays out naturally. I don't need you to decide on their parole right now, not before the end of this case. I won't force you trust them before they've shown that they're deserving of redemption. But keep it in mind."

Koenma stopped moving to stare up at the demoness. "You're serious about these two." He shifted his Mafukan from one side of his mouth to the other to soothe a new spot and sighed. "I don't know about this. You're asking me to make a pretty big gamble. l know you're doing everything to make sure the timeline stays unchanged, but that doesn't always fall in my best interests. Can you at least tell me if everything works out in the end?"

That time it was Kumiko's turn to fall quiet. From the long sleeve of the kimono she wore to sneak past the Ogres under the guise of a Spirit Guide, she pulled a folded piece of paper. it crinkled in her hands as she straightened the center crease. Gently, almost nostalgically, she brushed the image with the pad of her thumb and seemed to debate whether or not she should show it to him.

In the end it seemed that the Vixen's wistfulness won out over the clinical policy she normally carried over their every future-affecting transaction. Jaw clenched, little shoulders forward, Koenma formally accepted the proffered paper with both hands.

It was a photograph—a photocopy of a photograph, really; one that was old and nearly faded, printed out in black and white. In the photo was the entire team: Yusuke pointing at the camera, Botan holding the shoulders of Keiko, Kurama smiling pleasantly, Kuwabara grinning like a goof, and Hiei looking as if he would have rather been anywhere else in the world but there. Koenma stared at the little picture for longer than he probably should have. He analyzed every detail, every smile, every _individual,_ in wonder.

It was the first piece of physical proof that she'd shared with him since their first encounter over four hundred years earlier, and seeing it was absolutely incredible.

Awed, the Spirit Prince looked up at Kumiko. Her forest eyes sparkled with thinly veiled excitement.

"I _promise_ you. Everything will work out."

 **Genkai's Temple, Present Day**

Kagome took a breath to prepare herself before looking up at the Silver Fox who was staring at her with a suspiciously

hollow expression. Their eyes had only just met when Kuwabara stormed in between them, blocking Kurama from view. From halfway across the courtyard, the human man sized her up, his cheeks blotching with redness and his eyebrows knitting ever further downward the more he scrutinized her. The dark, overcast sky above them and the frigid wind that threatened flurries matched the coldness in his words when he spoke.

"You're not Kagome." Kuwabara ground out. The ice building in the air made his voice loud in the space, even though he spoke quieter than his normal tone. "I'm not fallin' for yer tricks. Kagome doesn't look like that. I mean, it's pretty darn close, but you got the cheeks all wrong. Her eyes aren't that small. She's more like a ragdoll kitten, but you've turned her into a Turkish van. If you thought I wouldn't notice, then you thought wrong. I know what my friends look like!"

"You're right. I look a little different, but I'm still—"

"Shut it!" He fell into a wider stance and summoned his electric yellow sword to his hands. His fury curdled the wind and spit flew from his mouth as he yelled. "You're that creep that took Yukina! Admit it! You're wearing Kagome's skin just like you were wearin' Kurama's this morning!"

Kagome held up her hands in an attempt to mitigate the situation. "Kazuma, I know that you're upset, but please hear me out. Hiei, tell him—" She started to say, but by the time she glanced over her shoulder at the demon standing beside her, Hiei had already disappeared. Without warning or apology he flit up to the roof and then away again over the far eaves.

 _"Damnit_ Hiei." She cursed quietly.

The Black Fox's attention didn't get to stay on Hiei's ship jumping very long, however, because in the same breath she needed to step back to avoid Kuwabara's lunge and swing.

"Eyes on me, you Shadow bastard!"

Before he could cause any damage to the building that was less than three days old, Kagome cautiously moved off from the deck and in an arch around him until the point of his weapon faced the empty training space of the yard. He rushed her once more. Golden power raged and crackled around his form, his spirit energy fueled like ether on a bonfire by his rampant emotions.

Instead of playing along and parrying as she had done with Hiei, the Demoness went straight to making a protective barrier—she made sure it was visible, so he didn't frustrate himself attacking the empty air before realizing what was going on. Hiei's skirmish had served a purpose; he'd been testing her to see if she'd grown into her abilities and up to his expectations. Kuwabara, on the other hand, was acting on pure instinct and anger. His sixth sense told him that she wasn't the same Fox that he'd seen off a few hours before back at the bridge and his mind filled in the blanks. It would have been easier to settle him down if Yukina hadn't been involved in that whole mess.

"Kagami—the Kagemono—he can't reproduce memories, remember?" Kagome spoke calm and reassuring as the detective battered her barrier in vain. She needed to talk him down before he thought to use his dimension sword, because even her strongest wall would tear like wet paper under that power. "Back when this place was attacked, you protected me. Remember? You shielded me with a net of energy. Before that, when I came back from the Demon Realm, l was so stressed. You wanted to help me relax, so we watched movies together, you me and Shippo. But it was so late and you were so tired that you fell asleep on my shoulder not even halfway through my movie. Ask me anything about our time together, Kazuma, and I'll be able to answer it. Because I _am_ Kagome. If you'd just let me prove it to you."

The battery of his sword didn't let up. A mixture of sparks, both yellow and pink, lit like fireworks around them with every strike.

"I don't believe you!" He nearly screamed. "If you were really Kagome, you'd be back at my house with my sister. If you were really Kagome, you'd be with _us,_ looking for Yukina, not lollygagging around Genkai's temple just waiting for us to show up! You wouldn't have had _time_ to get here before us! You'd be broken and talkin' nonsense, not lookin' like everything in the world was all hunky-dory!" Kuwabara's onslaught paused then so that he could take a breath. The ferocity of his swings would have put any major leaguer to shame, but they still had him sweating despite the cold. "What gives you the right to act all _calm_! _Why the heck_ is no one else helping me!?"

"Because it's really her, numbnuts."

Kuwabara spun incredulously on his heels to face down Yusuke, who had just appeared on the scene and slumped against the open temple door frame.

"There's no way it's her!" The redhead refuted. "It's gotta be the Shadow guy! He has you all brainwashed!"

 _"Jeez,_ would you can it!? We're not _brainwashed_ , stupid."

"I have _eyes_ , Yusuke!"

"Is that right? Then look at her, Kuwabara. Look with your _special_ _eyes._ "

Refusing to meet the gaze of the demoness, Kuwabara jutted his chin back to where Kagome was standing as still as a watchful heron beneath her energy field. "People don't grow like that in a handful of hours."

"No, they don't." The Priestess finally spoke up. The sound of her voice made Kuwabara flinch and tighten his grip on his sword. The flares of his power were beginning to bare threads at the sleeves of his oversized crew neck sweater. "It took me a bit longer than that."

" _Man_ , does she have a story to tell you guys!" The lead Spirit Detective quipped.

"You're absolutely right, Kazuma. Little Kagome wouldn't have been able to make it here before you did, not without help. But she didn't come this way at all, she went somewhere else entirely."

The human man's dark eyes narrowed and he finally faced the Fox. The flaming glow of his weapon reflected off from her barrier, casting a strange light on both of their faces. "What are you guys going on about?" His glare cut over to Yusuke and then back. It was obvious that he still wanted to fight, there was adrenaline coursing through his veins and electric spirit energy lacing the air with its atmospheric scent, but something she had said gave him pause. Just enough pause to get him thinking. "' _Little_ Kagome?' What the heck do you mean by 'Little Kagome'?"

A sound from inside the house caught Kagome's attention, her tall ears, free for the first time in hundreds of years, swiveled towards it and flicked. Right after that she dropped the barrier, took a slight step towards the boy that she'd befriended so quickly in her past, and laid a gentle hand on his wrist. The movement startled him. He released the sword on reflex.

She spoke to him in her smoothest, most motherly tone to help settle his racing heart. "Master Genkai just put a kettle on the stove. How about we go inside and talk about this over a cup of tea?"

A vein in the former thug's cheek bulged as he clenched his teeth. Hesitation began to overwhelm the anger in his scent.

"No way. Not until you prove you are who you say you are."

The Kitsune released him.

"Okay. Hold out your hand."

From a hidden interior pocket of her jacket, Kagome pulled a little drawstring bag, deep burgundy velvet with a braided white kumihimo cord. Then, from inside that bag she pulled the emerald hair comb. Once it had served its purpose in reconnecting her with Spirit World, it had become just another trinket—a fond memory in a jewelry box. It wasn't something that the Vixen had found reason to wear often, and after so many years of sitting untouched in storage the metal had tarnished and grown brittle. Miraculously, though, it still had all of its gemstones. She placed the piece in hisr reluctantly open palm.

He stared at it for a second before picking it up between his gangly fingers to inspect. His eyebrows pinched with confusion.

"An old hair pin? I don't get it."

Of course he wouldn't have recognized it right away. He never was one to pick up on the minute details. Not unless they pertained to a specific interest of his or Yukina.

Luckily, that particular trinket pertained to Yukina, even if he didn't realize it just yet.

"I stopped to look at this comb at a vendor's table on our way home one night. That day you bought one. A little silver comb with red gems. l encouraged you to choose that one because it matched Yukina's eyes. You were going to give it to her the next time we all got together, but Genkai received the warning note.

"There wasn't a good time for you to give it to her after that, and then she was kidnapped by Kagami—the Shadow Beast who is angry and vengeful because his closest friend and only other living Shadow Beast he knew had died under my watch. The child who's blood was on my hands." The Demoness found herself looking down at her clenched fingers when she quoted that part of the letter Kagami had sent her. Her smile was soft when she signed and turned back up to him. "I'll bet you still have that comb in your pocket, and that you're planning on giving it to her the moment we bring her back home safe."

At that Kuwabara reached to his back pocket and materialized the very same silver trinket from her description. He held them both up, two sister combs, and compared them in the light as the snow that'd been threatening finally began to fall in delicate flakes.

Skeptically, he said. "Yeah, but the one Koenma gave you was bran-spankin-new. This thing is _ancient_ ; there's no way it's the same one."

"She went back in time, stupid." Yusuke indelicately informed his friend when he saw that the lug was having difficulties fitting the subtle pieces together. "She's been watching us like our own personal stalker for years, dressed up as that stuck-up Wolf"

That only seemed to confuse the redhead more since he was the only one of the four detectives that never had an interaction with the Wolf General Kumiko. "Wolf? What wolf?"

Before Yusuke could go into a tirade about exactly _which_ Wolf the Priestess had been disguised as and why it pissed him off to hell and back, Keiko nudged past him through the doorway. She'd apparently opted against the cherry red dress that Yusuke had brought her from home and changed into a more practical training gi that Genkai had stored away in the dojo closets—a pale green and yellow Vietnamese style fighting top tucked into billowy white pants.

"She was your guardian angel, Yusuke." His girlfriend scolded. "You should be more grateful."

Kuwabara's attention zeroed in on the brunette. "Keiko, you're up." He said as delicately as his throat could muster in that moment. "How's your back?"

"It's nearly as good as new." She shared a warm smile with the Black Fox behind her tallest friend. "Kagome fixed me up. There's a little scar, but I'm not even sore anymore."

"She... healed you?"

She nodded.

"Well, you can't show him like this. Your shirt's all tucked in."

A slap echoed throughout the courtyard when Keiko swatted Yusuke's hand away from pinching at her lower back. Yusuke chortled as she chewed him out for being inappropriate, and while that was happening Kuwabara turned back to face Kagome. That guarded expression looked odd on him, but she didn't comment as he took her in, _really_ took her in. Then, when his scan was complete, he handed her back the tarnished gold comb and turned away without a word.

The Priestess watched with a heavy heart as her old friend gave her the cold shoulder. That was the exact reason why she had wanted Hiei to break the news to him first. Kuwabara was already so strained; pulled so taut and ready to bite whatever hand that seemed a threat. He should have been allowed time to let the news settle on the way over before running into her mature form. The last thing that Kagome wanted was for him to spurn her completely, like a mother cat rejecting its kitten in times of high stress. She'd grown the closest with him out of all four of the detective in the short time they'd had together as roommates, and that was a relationship that she didn't want to hurt. His trust was important to her.

But she allowed him to walk away. She gave him space as he clambered up the deck's steps, confirmed with Keiko that there was in fact tea, and disappeared into the belly of the temple. Keiko cast a worried glance over her shoulder before following Kuwabara inside.

Yusuke pushed himself from the door frame and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey Kurama." He called over Kagome's head. Her ears didn't know whether they wanted to perk or flatten at the name. "You coming in? Or are you just going to keep staring?"

The air around them fell still with the reminder of the Silver Kitsune's presence. Without turning to face the demon that'd been burning a hole in her back, Kagome shooed away the tactless Mazoku as politely as possible. "You go on ahead. We'll catch up in a bit."

He split a look between the two Foxes. "You sure about that?" Yusuke asked skeptically before adding, "Okay, whatever. You do what you need to. Just don't kill each other."

The Miko answered him with a grin and watched as he turned back inside and slid the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut, the grin fell from her face. In a habit that she thought she'd kicked ages ago, Kagome reached up to grip the Shikon no Tama at her collar bone.

 _That_ particular reunion was another big reason why she'd wanted Hiei to give the boys a heads up. But instead, Kurama had been taken off guard. Even without looking, she could tell that he'd barricaded his response behind a mask. There were no hints telling Kagome what he was thinking, no shift in the aura he had locked tightly away, no changes in his scent on the wind. Nothing.

She didn't expect anything less from the legendary Silver Fox Youko Kurama.

The breeds of Kitsune came in different rarities. There were the grey foxes, the most abundant members of their race, which could not take human form. Unlike the wolves in Ginta's pack, they lived out solitary lives in the forests of Makai like their wild counterpart in the human realm. Blonde and Red foxes like Koto and Shippo were common enough and lived out their lives in the cities among the regular folk, but they were still harder to find compare to other species of demons such as lizard Youkai or Oni. They were about on the same level as elementals in regards to rarity.

Then came Black Foxes, rare in the fact that only one Black Fox existed for every five thousand Blondes and Reds. In the years that she'd been traveling, Kagome hadn't actually ever met another like her—not that she'd exactly been looking.

But Silver Foxes? Silvers were rumors on the wind. They were so seldom documented and secretive that if Kagome didn't have the living proof standing behind her she would have been skeptical of their very existence, like many demons had been before Youko Kurama revealed his face during the Dark Tournament. He'd been famous, sure, but so few had actually seen his face throughout his past exploits; which was a compliment of his skills as a thief.

However, Kagome had known what Kurama was for a long, long time. _Well_ before the final Dark Tournament. And she knew that when he learned just _who_ she had been masquerading as, he would be left with just as many new questions as he had answers.

Finally, with a calming breath, Kagome released the Jewel and turned around to meet the Silver Kitsune's misleadingly blank stare. If it'd been Sesshoumaru standing there with that guarded expression, Kagome would have been able to read it like an open book. But Kurama wasn't Sesshoumaru. He was his own being. His book was written in a new, enticing language—one that she was eager to learn and decipher.

"I need to replace the barrier that surrounds this property." The demoness said to him, looking away before he could read too much into her own formally neutral gaze. She wasn't nearly as good at holding it as Sesshoumaru was, especially against a trained professional. "l don't want a repeat of last time before we get things settled."

The barrier that Genkai currently had in place had been made to keep the monsters of the Demon Forest enclosed, and to monitor the comings and goings of visitors. it wasn't designed to keep anything _out_. So Kagome planned to upgrade it as she had done to the ones around her grandfather's shrine, Sesshoumaru's manner, and the wolf den. The weave she'd been using to create them was a redesign of the original barrier Miroku and Kaede had taught her to create so long ago; one that kept out those with wicked or chaotic intentions. It was only recently—three hundred years, recently—that she'd been able to form them invisibly.

That skill had taken months of tedious practice to learn, and lots of hidden teacups scattered around the kitchen floor tripping up unsuspecting victims to perfect.

A barrier such as that wouldn't be able to prevent Kagami from portaling inside if he'd locked into somebody's energy signal, but it would give them warning and expel any of the lesser demons that followed, pushing them outwards through the hidden walls that were laced with her purity.

Kuwabara would be proud of her bug-zapper, she hoped, if he ever got to see it in action.

Without looking back, Kagome started down the path of stepping stones that led away from the building and front steps to the tree line, knowing that the curious Fox would follow after without prompt.

It wouldn't do to form the weave at the entrance or center of the property, because that's where they would be expected to be formed. Creating the dome in a more random place made it harder for an intruder to unravel it or bypass its weak points. _That_ was something she'd learned from experience, so she had already mapped ahead for a good place to put it, away from the hustle and bustle.

Also, the Priestess thought as she ducked into the shadows of the Demon Forest, she'd be killing two birds with one show. If she and Kurama were bound to have a heart to heart, she didn't want it to be out in the open on display for all to see.

The big secrets were finally going to come out.

All of them.

══════ With Reason ══════

There were a few things that Kurama pieced together well before the female Kitsune across the yard had trustingly turned her back on him, inviting him to follow as she disappeared into the forest.

First and most prominent of these observations was that the Kagome that stood there now was not the same Kagome that he had been in a rush to protect earlier that morning. She wasn't the girl-child who'd shattered beneath fear and the weight of responsibility while everything was whirling around her. This being was older and more experienced, without a doubt.

He'd seen that even before Yusuke had mentioned the woman's use of time travel. Despite her attempts to seem soft and unarming for Kuwabara, she held her stance with sure feet and confidence. There'd been a spark of that same confidence beginning to grow in his Kagome— _their_ Kagome, not _his._ Their _original_ Kagome—but it was a candle struggling to flourish in the midst of a storm compared to the sun glowing from within this woman. More than the broken war hero she'd been, the demoness now moved with the grace of a skilled predator.

The second thing he'd noted was that Yusuke was far more comfortable around the vixen than he should have any right to be, considering the last encounter they'd had and the violence of it. Kurama thought Yusuke's actions to be strangely uncharacteristic at the time, and he'd had trouble justifying it. Though, it seemed he had no reason to justify it in the first place. Something drastic must have occurred between the two for their slates to have been bleached so clean, like bones in the desert sun. It was as if they had pressed the reset button on their relationship, while still giving the impression of long time acquaintances. Friends, even.

Which led to the question: how long had those two been colluding together beyond the knowledge of everybody else on their team? How long had Yusuke's actions towards the original Kagome—little Kagome, as they called her—been a complete fabrication? It explained why the detective had a habit of disappearing after any time spent with the demoness; he hadn't wanted any of the more perceptive members of their team to see through his act, had he?

And thirdly, if time travel truly did play a part in the woman's sudden and drastic change, then that meant that she must have existed in parallel to her younger self for at least some duration of time, watching them from afar. Or, perhaps, not so far. Disguised as a _Wolf_ , Yusuke had said—a fitting role, considering how well it suited her personality and ironic considering how long he'd assumed her to be that very species. And Kurama had a feeling that he knew exactly _which_ Wolf she'd been, even if the implications made his skin crawl the slightest bit.

She'd been Kumiko, the Ookami that the great demon Lord Sesshoumaru kept close by his side as his elusive and secret second in command. While the Sparrow took the title publicly, it was the Wolf who truly held the position. The soldier that had gathered him from Gandara and Hiei from Alaric without a single word or knowing glance to deposit back at the edge of that damned barrier in the glade of lilies when Kagome's visit with the Dog demon had come to its end. She'd avoided looking him in the eye—now he knew it to be out of secrecy, not indifference—even as he'd shifted from his natural flesh to his human Glamour right in front of her.

The Wolf hadn't commented.

She hadn't shown any recognition whatsoever, even though she knew very well who he was. She'd _always_ known.

Even _back_ _then._

Mirroring the Wolf's prior position as the silent observer, Kurama followed Kagome to the little round clearing that she'd made in the forest with her power. He watched from the tree line as she wove her barrier in a glow of intricate threads. The process was as impressive as it was detailed. Once domed above them and across the mountainside, the structure shimmered with the sheen of an oil spill, the likes of which he'd only ever seen twice before in his life, before it vanished with one final thread of delicately embroidered energy.

When the magic and figurative dust had settled, Kagome stood, back still facing him, and raised two fingers. Held very delicately between them was a little black seed. A morning glory seed to be specific. One of the very same seeds that he had given little Kagome before she'd disappeared behind the Sparrow General and onto the Manner grounds. They'd been his promise to her that if she needed help, he'd return to her side quickly with the help of the flairs of energy trapped within. In the right conditions, those seeds would remain viable for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years. They were also, it seemed, durable enough to survive travel though a rift in time itself. That particular seed was the one that held Hiei's power, he realized.

The one holding his own power was long since gone.

"Do you remember the first time you met me?" Kagome asked.

The words she chose were very specific; the first time _he_ met _her_ , not the first time she met him or when they met mutually. It insinuated that the occurrences happened at different points. Kurama swallowed, accepting what he already suspected to be true. He knew very well the event of which she was referring.

"I never was able to steal that sword." The Glamoured Kitsune admitted, keeping his face impassive as he stitched together their timeline.

══ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ══

 _That night was unusually cold. It was winter, but the winters in that part of the Demon Realm were still fairly warm at night. There wasn't any snow on that level, save for the remote forests of the eastern edge where the Ice Maidens had produced an eternal blizzard to ward off intruders from their floating islands. Those Koorime lived modest, poor lives and owned nothing noteworthy aside from the gems they produced. And while it was tempting, and he was certainly capable of tolerating that frozen hell for a short time, he didn't care for the cold enough to step into a trade as filthy as trafficking._

 _The temperatures there in the rogue lands at the border of the Forest of Fools weren't nearly as low as what an Ice Maiden or Elemental was capable of producing, but it was still chilly enough for the legendary bandit Youko Kurama to see his breath as he stalked the perimeter of the oddly iridescent barrier._

 _The former General of the Western Lands back when the realms were one, Sesshoumaru, had taken up residence in that land some one hundred years prior—plenty of time for the lnu to settle in and grow comfortable enough to lower his guard. Behind the blockade of power and visible from the cliffs was a small ring of buildings surrounding the main Manor, where the man's most loyal of followers and soldiers lived secluded form the outside world. The barrier that protected them glistened and occasionally sparked with the faintest crackle of an energy source long forgotten._

 _The Fox had heard a rumor that the Lord had somehow come to control a sword capable of wielding unthinkable powers for a demon: the ability to heal wound capable of rivaling any sorceress, Miko purity able to disintegrate any Youkai with a mere touch, and the ungodly ability to bring the dead back to the world of the living. And perhaps that rumor hadn't been entirely unfounded, Kurama thought to himself as he singed his fingers on the painfully pure barrier and licked the burn._

 _His silver hair caught the wind when he leapt down from the tree where he'd perched to test the wall's consistency; he landed lightly where the energy field met the tall grass. The white of his clothing captured the light of the night's violet glow like snow reflecting the moon. For any other thief, wearing white was a death wish. But Youko Kurama wasn't just any other thief. He flaunted his robes with a confidence that bordered arrogance, and it was well merited. His stealth and strategy had him named one of the most successful thieves in Makai, if not_ the _most successful, since the realm's creation._

 _He'd stolen from the collections of kings and the spoils of dragons. The crafty Kitsune knew that he'd even be able to steal from the private vaults of Enma himself if ever given the chance, regardless of his attire._

 _If the state of the Manor was anything to go by, that job was looking to be a boorishly simple one. Sesshoumaru was away from his pavilion to sign a treaty of neutrality that he had managed to secure with the masked Makuro of Alaric. The strange Bird that he kept companion, the General's widow that had been specially tailored to be Sesshoumaru's second, had left on a public relations detail in Tourin to speak with the monks about a handful of refugees that had been squatting on the outskirts of Raisen's land without pass. Both of them had taken a guard of their finest, leaving their little village pitifully underprotected, save for that barrier._

 _Kurama reached out again with pale, slender fingers to touch it once more. That time the energy of the barrier didn't bite back. He'd scoped that particular spot out a few days prior under the cloak of the new moon; it was where the shield was its weakest. The weave was thin there, the furthest point from the field where it had been created. The coincidence of a field or white lilies, the flower of purity, being the epicenter of a barrier made from a Priestess' purity wasn't lost on him._

 _The barrier itself was impressive; a piece of art in its own right crafted with delicate threads of angel hair. Somehow Kurama had trouble believing that the ruthless blood lord had the ability to create something so fine, even if there were loose ends and inconsistencies in it's structure. That made the Fox all the more curious about that supposed fang he wielded._

 _The Kitsune plucked at the weave like a harp and the magic came to life beneath his touch like a maestro conducting a wild composition without structure or measure. He frogged the spell until the edge of the shimmering wall before him fell away. The rest of the barrier rippled like he'd thrown a pebble into a pond before it stabilized once more. The tall, silken ears at the top of his head swiveled to catch any sounds of movement, any sign that somebody from within the compound at that late hour had seen or felt the momentary shift in their barrier. But there was nothing. The night was as still as it was cold._

 _He'd done the impossible;e and infiltrated the hidden compound of a Cardinal Lord._

 _Coast clear, Kurama became a living shadow as he made his way further and further within the property grounds. The natural forest landscaping that they used to protect the little village from prying eyes worked to his advantage; the foliage and brush bend to shield his form from the radiant moonlight until he was nothing more than a pair of golden eyes glowing from the darkness. Eventually the forest faded to the clearing that housed the central buildings. There the flora was tamed within beds and pathways. Finely sculpted plants, both of human world and demon world varieties, caressed the decks and gave shade to a small fish pond and its adjoining stream._

 _Kurama scanned the courtyard thoroughly, surveyed the walkways, and reached out with a chiffon thin slip of his aura to feel for any living beings. The Kitchens, normally bustling with activity, were silent in the late hour, and the bedchambers were just as empty, as he'd anticipated. The lone patrolman that passed was hardly security; the young soldier had walked so close to where the Kitsune had hidden himself that Kurama could have reached out and tore the throat from his neck._

 _He didn't. The thief preferred to leave behind no trace of his existence on jobs such as those. If it'd been a larger heist with the aid of the bandits that he occasionally reigned over as their ring leader and guide, the collateral may have been necessary. But it was turning out to be the farthest thing from the job of the century._

 _Without waiting even a pulse after the guard rounded the corner, Kurama sprang across the open clearing and pressed flush against one of the covered deck's wide support beams. It was audacious, but what was a heist without a little risk? Even so, the little horned demon was none the wiser and did not turn around to investigate the the rustling. If he had, he would have seen the blacklight glow of Kurama's garb against the wood like an iridescent bird-butterfly on display in a shadowbox._

 _Adrenaline ran through his veins like liquid pleasure._

 _There were five separated buildings there, connected only that deck that crossed the gardens to the main house. While the four along the sides were not considerably smaller, there was enough of a size discrepancy to single out the room at the end of the walkway as belonging to the Dog. It was the private room of one of the old lords—a highly classed and powerful demon by any standard—so naturally it should have been heavily warded in his absence. Kurama had prepared for that._

 _Imagine the Kitsune's surprise when he peered down the walk and was met with an open door._

 _Youko Kurama crouched low behind a dormant rhododendron and hopefully out of view. Something was wrong, and it wasn't just the flowers whispering their warnings. A more cautious look confirmed that the sliding door to Sesshoumaru's chamber was wide open. It beckoned him without guard or spell. It dared him to enter that private ground. Even in the darkness Kurama was able to make out the frame of the Dog's bed, and the outline of the sword mounted above it. The prize he sought out to claim was_ right there _, but the experienced Fox knew better than to continue forward without further investigation._

 _There was no reason for that to be the only open door. Had he been spotted? Had somebody caught wind of the plans he hadn't divulged to a single soul or had somebody predicted his movements?_

 _No, that wasn't probable. He would not have overlooked an onlooker—he would have felt the eyes of another lucking within the shadows, would have felt their aura or sensed the presence of whoever had been in that room. But there was nothing there. As far as he could tell, the bedchamber was as empty as it had been all that evening. There was no reason for him to think otherwise._

 _Despite that, his defenses rose. In one hand appeared the seed of a rose, ready to spring to life as his favored whip, and in the other sprouted the delicate roots of a creeping vine. The plant latched tight to the unfinished underside of the wooden deck, where it slithered like a snake along the grains and crevices. Quickly and silently, the plant worked it's way down to the room at the end of the hall. It acted as an extension of his senses, searching restlessly for the answers he sought. Yet still,_ frustratingly _, there was nothing._

 _Not until a burst of raw energy erupted from within the room._

 _Kurama froze to solid stone. Normally his reaction wouldn't have been to impersonate a deer in the headlights, but that wasn't any normal situation that he had found himself in. That display of power didn't belong to any of the manor's residents, nor to any guests that he may have missed throughout his surveillance._

 _That power belonged to_ him.

 _A shock of his own energy flared from within Sesshoumaru's chamber and radiated out across the courtyard, a brilliant beacon to all who remained on the property. The vine that he had been guiding stretched towards that energy, no longer under the influence of his own hidden aura. Even the shrubs and grasses at his bare feet that usually brushed against his legs like dutiful pets waiting for a command betrayed his loyalties for the unrestrained power._ His own _unrestrained power._

 _Just as suddenly as the flare had appeared, and well before the incredulity had a chance to settle in, the silhouette of a woman appeared in the open doorway. Kurama fled without getting a too long of a look at the Wolf, but she made eye contact before he completely disappeared back into the forest as if hell itself was on his heels. Her glowing green eyes haunted him like a ghost for weeks after that._

 _None of Kurama's intelligence or leads he'd received before scoping out the property personally had mentioned a second high ranking demoness living alongside the Inu Youkai. He hasn't sensed the woman's power or presence at all, it was as if she had none to speak of. As if she were a specter. She hadn't even made a sound aside from the hitch of her breath on the chilly winter's air, but even then he hadn't heard it until after she'd already appeared and it was too late._

 _The demoness could have killed him. Or at the very least could have tried to. Yet she didn't. She simply watched him with veiled eyes and let him flee into the night without giving chase._

 _One week later, after coming up short on any leads regarding the Ookami female who must have run in the same circle as the Western Lord, but remained virtually unknown to any who had associated with him before the separation of the worlds, Kurama returned to see would he could discover on his own. However, when he arrived to the barrier—at a different location than before. He wasn't about to be caught meddling in the same location where he'd made the first hole, not when there was such a wide radius to work with—it had been changed. The entire barrier had been replaced by one that seemed a bit sturdier and was significantly less visible. It no longer glistened like oil in the moonlight. Rather It looked more like glass; translucent but still distinctly warped around the edges. Another change was that it no longer crackled with its purity. Although, the hairs that rose on his arms told him that the lack of crackling by no means meant that there was a lack of Miko power, only it's visibility and consistency had been altered._

 _That time the Fox didn't give it a test tap._

 _Whoever had built that new barrier—if he was a betting man, which he was not because games of chance were nothing more than a tax to prey on fools, he would have put his money on that Wolf as being the culprit as opposed to Sesshoumaru—had learned from his break in and improved in the areas that he had taken advantage of._

 _There were no longer fluctuations in the wall's thickness thanks to a technique in creation where the barrier is built internally instead of externally, and the thread ends that he had used to unweave the previous one were notably absent, replaced by at least one single continuous thread. Unraveling it now meant finding the fewer ends, which could have been anywhere. Considering that there could have been only two ends to the hair-thin energy and the barrier was at least a kilometer in diameter, it would have been like seeking a single pearl at the bottom of a lake._

 _Difficult, without a doubt, but still possible with his expertise and ample time. The prize might not even have been worth the extra effort, but those developments in that deceptively simple job made it all the more interesting, and wasn't the thrill of it half the fun?_

 _Kurama never give up on his mark, no, he wasn't one to give up. Instead he simply put it off for another day, one where he was feeling adventurous enough to go against the wall that may have had the ability to vaporize him to ash with one wrong touch and the woman of unknown origins. The Kitsune did prefer to have all of his facts and ducks in a row before jumping into the deep end, so he waited with one ear out for any new leads. He figured it would happen eventually, but time and time again the ambitious Fox found himself distracted by other heists and promises of treasure._

 _After a few dozen years, the fang of the Dog Demon fell to the back of his mind._

 _He knew he would steal it someday. It was just a matter of patience._

═══════ Tsarashi ═════════

That day never came. He'd been hunted down by Shunjun before he'd gotten the desire or adequate information to try to break into Sesshoumaru's property again.

Kurama hadn't had reason to mention that before, not to Kagome or to the demoness Kumiko when she met him in Gandara. He'd remembered his past failure the moment Kagome mentioned the Dog demon's name and he wondered if the Wolf remembered him as well when he saw her again, but it had been such a brief transgression and the woman had been irrelevant to Kagome, so none of that mattered at the time.

All of it mattered, he saw now. Without even realizing it on his end, the two of them had gone full circle. That flair of energy that had deterred him from the pavilion back then had come from the very same seed that he had given to the younger Kagome just barely two weeks prior. All that time he'd assumed it to be a trick of his mind brought on by the Ookami's own power, and in a way he hadn't been completely wrong. Kagome had used that seed knowing it would disorientate him, and, having known him in the future, she had probably studied his habits and exploits as a demon thief to prevent him from discovering her true identity too early, so she intentionally kept herself scarce. And, of course, that lack of clues towards her own identity was what prevented him from attempting to break past her barrier a second time.

It was a mind trick, that was for certain.

Kurama couldn't quite pinpoint how exactly that knowledge made him feel. He was simultaneously taken aback and impressed. Yet at the same time he couldn't help feeling the slightest bit intimidated. Perhaps annoyed. The woman had bested him once, after all, and that failure had gnawed on his tail for years.

Because of that, the Tod had yet to drop his guard. She was Kagome, yes, but that Kagome wasn't _his_ Kagome. She wasn't the same innocent girl that hid so many mysteries behind her Glamour like a present begging to be unwrapped on Christmas morning. The one he'd been slowing picking apart piece by colorful paper and tinsel piece for weeks. This one was new and he'd have to get to know her all over again.

"How did this happen?" He asked her, imagining the life she must have lived to get to where they were standing.

It took a moment for the Priestess to gather herself. Even though she had who knew how many years to prepare for the telling of her tale, it seemed that she had still managed to be put on the spot.

Hiei had done that, Kurama realized. Hiei had withheld the information and dangled that knowledge haughtily above the Fox's head when Kagome had requested him to share with the rest of the class. He'd _known._ And then, after the testy Apparition had gotten a reaction out of Kagome, he'd disappeared to watch the fallout from a distance. He might even still be watching them. Kurama couldn't tell for certain since Hiei had severed their mental link completely back in Makai and then blocked his aura with no desire to be found.

Kagome, on the other hand, had always seemed to have the uncanny ability to sense Hiei beyond the wards of his Jagan. The rigid set of her shoulders and the way her heel dug into the dirt when she spun to face him told Kurama that the little goth might not be too far down wind.

The Priestess reached to the back of her neck and unlatched the necklace that held the Shikon no Tama as she made her way to where he was standing in the treeline. She dangled it out to him and when the little treasure touched the flat of his palm Kagome began to explain.

"The Sacred Jewel was connected to a magic well back in Tokyo. It gave me the power to travel back into the past—five hundred years back, right to the end of the Sengoku Era. I'd traveled through it before countless times to fix the shattered Jewel and fight in the was against Naraku. This morning, my younger self made the decision to go back permanently to discover my powers and grow. You said yourself that I would be a better asset to the team if I were more experienced. So now I am."

Kurama scowled and pulled his hand from the bobble as if it had grown too warm to touch. "That was something that I had said, yes." He began. The male Kitsune had a feeling that particular word choice was going to come back and bite him. "While it may have been true, as it would as well be true for all of my teammates—there is a correlation between being aware of one's capabilities and victory—I did not say those words with the intent to hurt you. Rather I wanted you to better understand Yusuke's motives for his actions. Not that I truly understood them myself at the time." There was a pause as he raised a brow at the little smile growing on her lips. "However, I am starting to suspect that those motives were never truly his to begin with."

At that Kagome gave a slow, contrite shake of her head. She didn't hesitate to confirm his suspicions. "He fought with me tooth and nail every step of the way, but it was detrimental that he carried out that mission exactly as I remembered it. I—well, Kumiko—had to prove to him that I knew the future before he would even consider playing along. He's never made _anything_ easy. But no, none of his interactions with little Kagome were genuine since the motives behind them were mine."

Knowing that Yusuke hadn't acted on his own accord when he attacked the young Vixen did not change what had happened, but did shed a new light on that entire scene. The woman he'd been cursing before Kagome arrived hadn't been the Priestess at all, as they'd all assumed. At least, not that incarnation of her. The Detective wasn't angry at the girl for the trouble she'd brought to the temple. His anger had been directed towards Kumiko, the woman plucking his strings behind the scenes who had just commanded him to assault little Kagome. He'd been furious with Kagome's elder self, as well as possibly himself for going along with her directions.

Kurama cycled back to one of his questions: how much had the half demon known?

So he asked.

"Had Yusuke known who you truly were beneath the guise of the Wolf? How long have you been working with him? Or, more specifically, having him work for you?"

She must have seen some sort of unpleasant emotion in his words, because the Jewel nearly fell from her hand before she caught it and closed her grip on the stone once more. "Kurama, please don't be mad at Yusuke for keeping all of this from you. He never knew it was really me. Actually, he just found out and I think he's still having a little trouble processing it. Yusuke is a good young man, and he is so loyal to all of you. Most of our arguments were were because he wanted to fill the rest of you in. But it was just too much risk. If anyone had slipped it to little Kagome or acted off because of that knowledge, things could have turned out very differently. I was walking a thin line with Yusuke as it was. Nobody else knew who I was."

"And yet Hiei was informed."

"What?" Kagome frowned and stuck the Jewel into her skirt pocket without looking down at it. "No, Hiei didn't know about Kumiko until just a few hours ago."

"But he had known that you were a Kitsune, well before anybody else." Why was he so snared on that? Why did he feel... _jealous_? It was an irrational response; there was nothing substantial for him to be jealous _of_. Hiei didn't even like the woman.

Mostly unaware of the inner bitterness building in his chest, the Vixen defended the Fire demon. "That was something he figured out on his own—"

"Of course he had."

"—I _did_ tell him about the well. And I had also confided to him that I didn't know my powers because he was pestering me so much and I was so stressed that I finally cracked. As soon as I told him, all of that stopped. As soon as I told him that I had been a _human_ girl up until a few months before you found me, his entire attitude towards me changed and I no longer felt threatened."

The growing tension inside of him popped like a soap bubble, and for once he was at a complete loss for words.

"You'd been... human?"

"Yeah." She replied. "That was the big secret at the time." Then she laughed. "I thought that you guys would look at me differently if you knew. I thought you'd pity me. Koenma built me up to be this grand warrior, and I thought that if it was known that I knew less about my powers than Shippo— _than a child—_ then I would have had even less of a chance to live a normal life. I was also afraid that if I admitted it publicly, that would make it more real." Kagome didn't look away, flustered, or break eye contact as little Kagome would have. She wasn't ashamed of the decisions she made in her past or her insecurities. She accepted them and moved forward. "It was real, though. The Jewel wanted me to be a Kitsune and then it gave me a new job title on top of that."

That was when she began telling her tale from the very beginning, from her fifteenth birthday when she'd been dragged into the past as an unsuspecting teen.

Her being raised as a modern human seemed to be the golden puzzle piece that pulled everything together. It explained her odd mannerisms, he ignorance, her fluctuating emotions, and even her adoption of an orphaned kit, since natural born Kitsune were so solitary. Her time travel explained her broken spirit—she had only just fought against Naraku—and why she hadn't seen Sesshoumaru in so long. Answers peppered him one after another as she summarized her past five hundred years.

While she'd been speaking, Kurama looked over the older Kagome standing bare and honest before him. He took her in from the black silk of her tail, to the tips of her ears, to the blue of her eyes. There was so much life in those eyes.

No, she wasn't the younger girl that he'd stated to form a tentative friendship with. She was so much more than that now.

 _This_ Kagome was even more intriguing.

When she stopped talking, ending with a vague idea of what it meant to be the Guardian of the Realms, Kurama noticed that she'd left out a very important key character from her story.

"And the Shadow Beast?" He asked her. "What about him?"

The mention of the Kagemono finally made her smile falter.

"I met him." Was her curt reply. "I'll tell you more about it back at the temple with the others."

"I understand." Kurama didn't press her further for any more information. She had already been more than generous with what she'd given him already.

And yet she still offered more.

"Is there anything else you want to ask me before we head back?" The Priestess asked. It was an invitation to unrestrained access to the world of her mind and memories. A tempting one.

 _Yes_ , he wanted to say. There was so much that he wanted to know about her still.

Instead he said "No, I believe that you have more than answered my immediate questions." There was only so much satisfaction that he could have gained if he simply asked. The Fox decided to wait for those frivolous questions of his to be answered naturally as he became reacquainted with the once human Priestess.

Kagome nodded, almost knowingly, and smiled. "Then we should be heading back."

She moved past him and down the path they had taken to get to that clearing. When she turned back for him to join her instead of going on ahead, Kurama offered a warm smile.

"Welcome back to the team, Kagome."

Her reaction to that was instantaneous. A flush lit her nose and her entire expression blossomed with happiness. It pleased him, more than he wanted to admit. And while they walked side by side back to Genkai's temple, Kurama created a new list to replace his nearly satisfied list of questions: a list of discoveries.

His first discovery was that Kagome was still just as tenderhearted she'd always been, even if she hid it decently enough when necessary. She was still just as easily delighted as her younger self, and she brightened easily around those she considered to be a friend, even with just a few simple words.

The second was that she shared the awkwardness that he felt walking beside her. Even though she may have considered him to be a friend, and he had as well, they were once more strangers. Distant acquaintances at best. There was still so much that they didn't know about each other as individuals.

Yet despite that, his third discovery, the one that made him the most conscious of his body, was that he very much wanted to brush his hand against the back of hers. They were so close, almost close enough to feel the warmth of her skin and that mutual static tingle that he associated with her as another Kitsune.

But he restrained himself.

Kurama pushed down the urge until it was once more hidden deep within himself.

It wasn't yet time for that to come to the surface.

═════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ════

 **Chapter 10: End**


	11. Winter's Search (Part One)

**Chapter Eleven: Winter's Search (Part One)**

 **The Edo Period, In the years before the Manor burned**

Toru bent down to study a patch of mushrooms that were clinging in a cluster to the moss laden bark of a fallen tree. They were a creamy brown color, a little bit shiny, with tiny umbrella caps that were all tightly packed and climbing over one another, as if each one were vying to be on the top of the pile. He really couldn't say much else about them; the young Hawkling didn't know all that much about the food they gathered, he always just let Rin lead the way. She was the real expert among them.

He was about to call the young Inu over to confirm whether or not his find was edible when he felt something touch one of his wings. On reflex, he jumped and spun, putting himself nose to nose with the horned Mazoku mask that Kagami never seemed to take off. Too close. Startled again, the slightly taller boy stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over his fungi riddled log.

A flap of his wings helped him to regain his balance before he met the dirt for dinner.

The quieter of the two Shadow Beast orphans stared at him—or more so, stared over his shoulder, still _at_ him but focused on his feathered appendages rather than his face. At least, that's where it felt like he was looking. It was hard to tell with those black, pupil-less eyes and that mask that obscured all but a glimpse of that blackness.

"Your wings are getting bigger." Kagami said in that straightforward voice of his that made him sound like he was stating sterile facts instead of trying to start or hold a conversation. "but they are still not functional. Will you always be an earthbound bird?"

That was a question that Toru had been asking himself and his mother for quite sometime, and the insecurity he felt about the subject made him flush. He had to look away from the quizzical darkness of Kagami's reflective eyes. Demons who were born with wings or who grew them in the early years of their development normally would have been flying at half of his current size and maturity. Yet for whatever reason, his own refused to give him lift. He could glide short distances, but that was it.

Sometimes he would watch the songbirds with envy. Even his own mother was a daily reminder of his shortcomings, what with her tall, elegant wings that could carry her as high as she dared. For her it was so effortless.

Toru didn't realize that he was stuttering until someone cleared their throat.

"You shouldn't ask questions like that, Kagami." Said Hansha, the older of the two Kagemono, as she came to the Hawk's rescue. "It's rude." She was gently cradling a collection of berries and green herbs, and her own noh mask was hanging loosely around her neck. As black as her eyes were and despite the lack of hair anywhere on her head or face, she was still quite expressive as she pinned her little packmate with a reproachful look. That button nose of hers crinkled in a way that was actually kind of cute.

Kagami seemed to shrink under her stare. He picked absently at a thread in one of his sleeves.

"I was curious." The little boy replied, looking anywhere but her gaze. "I've met Tengu that could fly as toddlers. But he is much older than that. His wings aren't broken, they simply refuse to work. Do you think it is still a matter of growing into them, or will he be mostly grounded like a brush quail?" He pulled a feather from his sleeve then and studied its tawny freckles. It was much too small to be one of Toru's. He must have found it on the forest floor. "I wanted to know. They look similar."

Toru gawked at the feather. His eyebrows pinched together and rose as bafflement met mortification.

A quail?

Again, another feminine voice swooped in to the rescue.

"Toru's a Hawk, not a quail. He's a strong and proud bird of prey. Right Toru?" Rin said, carrying a basket in her arms. She lowered it for Hansha to deposit her harvest before looking back over to the boys. Her eyes brightened when she saw Toru's log. "Oh! Nameko mushrooms! Great find!" She explained before kneeling to pick them. As she was gently separating stems from rotting bark, the Pup said to Kagami, "Toru will be able to fly someday soon. He just needs to find his wings first."

The Bird dropped beside her to help.

"But his wings are there." Kagami spoke again, gesturing to the speckled black and brown feathers on the older boy's back. "Why would he need to look for them?"

"She means it metaphorically. Not everyone can be a prodigy like you, Kagami." Hansha scolded him, swatting away his outstretched hand before the smaller Kagemono could touch Toru's wings again. Toru was grateful for that. He didn't like them touched. "You've never had to learn how your powers worked, they've always just come to you. But it's not like that for most. Some beings need years and years to learn their abilities."

"I'm still learning mine." Rin admitted chipperly. Even though she was nearly into her adolescence without knowing most her powers, Rin never seemed to let it bother her much. He didn't know how it had affected her in the beginning, before her pack included him, but from what Toru saw, she was more than happy to allow her abilities to come to the surface slowly. Each new discovery was something she was able to further investigate with her father and the other adults. It was a constant adventure for her. Shippo knew his powers better even though he was younger, sure, but that couldn't be helped since Rin had been human and powerless before.

Not that the Shadow Beast kids knew that.

"Me too." Hansha added. "I was a bit of a late bloomer for my family. But even still, many Kagemono don't get their shapeshifting abilities until they hit puberty. You were an odd one, Kagami."

The little boy frowned. Or, at least, Toru thought that he might have frowned. It seemed appropriate, given the context and the way he looked away.

Something wet landed on the hawk's hand as he placed the last of his mushrooms into Rin's basket and they stood. He looked up at the sky. Compared to the canines, his sense of smell wasn't all that great, but he didn't need to be a Fox or a Dog to know that a storm was rolling in. The air had been angry and threatening all morning. The clouds in the sky a blanket of heavy and ominous grey fluff. Leaves showing their bellies. Soon after he felt the first droplet, another landed on his shoulder. Then another on the top of his head.

And then it was drizzling.

"We should probably head back." Rin suggested.

All Toru could do was nod demurely, glad that the attention was no longer on him.

The little Inu scurried forward, pulling Hansha along with her. The two girls laughed as the rain began to beat down a little harder, and then their laughter turned to squealed of delight when the sky's spigot was turned and suddenly the spontaneous drops had become a torrential downpour. It was that season, after all. They had all worn an extra layer to cover their clothing, just in case. Rin utilized the extra length of her sleeve to shield the basket of their harvest.

The Hawkling smiled at the girls walking ahead of them on the trail, the two huddled close. Rin's hair was already soaked through and sticking to her dimpling cheeks. Hansha's bare skin shined slick like a pebble in a stream. They were content just holding onto each other's arm, as if that could protect them from getting even more drenched.

A couple quick strides allowed Toru to catch up to them. With a ruffle from over his shoulder and a flex of muscle, he extended a wing overhead. When the rain suddenly stopped hitting her head, Hansha looked up to see the tawny feathers. As oversized as It was on his person, the appendage made for a perfect shelter for two little travelers.

She giggled.

In response, Toru averted his eyes. He looked back to where Kagami was sulking along behind them, frayed sleeves drenched through and mask dripping.

He extended his second wing with an unspoken invitation.

Kagami stared up at it before dropping his black gaze down to study Toru. Onyx met obsidian. Deep, boundless, _hungry_ obsidian. Wary. Confused. Innocent. The little bird felt his face grow warm. He turned back to focus on the trail ahead of him, but didn't recoil his offer. After a while, he was afraid that the Kagemono wasn't going to accept the shelter. Embarrassment began to itch little moth holes in his belly.

Then Kagami fell in line beside him, quiet as a cat. The tips of his pointed ears were stained a beat red.

The two continued without speaking, rain drowning out the whispered conversation of the girls on the other side. When they made it back to the manor clearing, Rin had nudged Hansha and dared her to race back to the house in the rain. They laughed as they ran across the soggy grass, wet fabrics swinging about without a care. Kagome appeared on the deck, drying rags in hand and a scowl on her face.

"I guess they're not entirely useless." Toru heard Kagami speak quietly beside him as they made their way much slower across the courtyard. "They can still serve a purpose. They're good wings."

The little bird looked down at his smaller companion. The Shadow Beast wasn't looking at him. It wasn't a terribly large compliment, but Kagami wasn't one to use his words superficially. He might as well have just given Toru a congratulatory metal of recognition.

Toru beamed.

He would fly someday. And when he did, he would fly stronger and taller than anyone else.

 **Genkai's Temple, Present Day**

The others were gathered in Genkai's sparsely furnished living room. They crowded around the coffee table. The new-leather scented sofa should have comfortably fit three, but was a bit tight with Kuwabara's larger frame taking up the better half of it. It was a similar gathering to when she had woken up in that temple the first time, Kagome realized when Shunjun opened the door for her and Kurama from the porch, back when she was a pseudo prisoner and potential threat. It felt strange, like walking in on a distant dream that'd been out of reach for so long.

Except it wasn't the same. Shizuru was working, Yukina was missing, and Hiei was standing—avoiding eye contact—instead of destroying the arms of the couch.

To them, everything that had happened was still fresh in their minds. Barely a month had passed since that first encounter, setting the whole thing in motion. Barely a month. And she'd been the puppet master behind the whole ordeal.

It took a puppet master to fight a puppet master, which was exactly what Kagami had become.

Kurama allowed Kagome to enter the room first. Not for show of chivalry, but because Kuwabara had stood the moment the door opened and the Vixen seemed intent to meet him halfway.

Granted more space, Yusuke readjusted his leg that had been casually draped over Keiko's lap. He turned up to count the wood panels of the ceiling in a show of giving Kagome and Kuwabara some privacy. The human girl half beneath him looked down into her hands. Hiei hovered somewhere between the cough and the wall, not quite in the circle yet not far enough away to lean against the window, excluding himself as he usually did. Unlike the others, he didn't show any polite restraint from staring. The apparition tried to meet her eye, to share with her a snotty smirk, but she ignored him to focus singly on the young man before her.

Kagome stepped to confront her friend as if he were an opponent in a boxing match, the coffee table between them the sole referee. Kuwabara stared her down. His lips pinched tight. His hackles rose.

"Five hundred years?" He spoke up when it became apparent that Kagome wasn't going to be the one to speak first. His voice cracked like a fissure in the silence that surrounded them.

"Yeah." The Kitsune woman responded quietly, so not to shatter the glass that they were treading on. It seemed Yusuke completed the job of filling Kuwabara in, but whether or not he was going to accept the news was still up in the air. She just hoped that he'd calmed down enough to hear it from her directly.

"That's a long time." He said carefully.

"It was." She replied.

The room held its breath. It was difficult to tell whether the Guardian of the Realms and the boy who broke the barrier were staring each other down like feral cats, one waiting for the other to pounce, or if they were acting more like children, each waiting for the other to ask them out to the school dace. Nobody knew if that conversation was going to end in another fight or a hug.

Either way, it was tense.

"So... do you even remember us all that well?" Kuwabara asked only after Yusuke grew impatient and cleared his throat. "You only knew us for a tiny bit, right? And five hundred years is—I mean, It's _five hundred years."_

Kagome blinked but didn't let her guard drop. Cautiously she took a step forward, brushing her shins up against the coffee table. Then she found herself quoting the words that had been spoken to her so long ago by the same Rin she knew now. " _Of course_ I remember you, Kazuma. I remember everything as if it were yesterday. _Even more_ , because I've lived through it twice." She started to smile. "I've always been here for you, watching over you. I just couldn't tell—"

He interrupted her with a harsh growl. "And you _still_ let Yukina be kidnapped!? Even though you _knew_ it was going to happen?"

His large hands balled into fists, all ten knuckles going a bloodless white. Yusuke behind him sat up alert but didn't stand.

Ah. There it was. That was the very conclusion that Kagome feared he was going to come to.

As much as the rest of the team liked to pick on their carrot topped boy for his shortcomings, he had a good head on his shoulders and was the most emotionally receptive of the bunch. He couldn't care less about thinking through any danger that he put _himself_ in, but when it came to his friends' safety, few events and potential outcomes missed his notice.

He was smart; he'd be starting college soon after all. He was the only one of the boys to pursue higher education and if he studied hard he was going to go far with it. So, while she'd hoped that particular nugget would fly over his head, deep down she knew that it wouldn't.

"Yes" Kagome replied bluntly, without any sugar to soften the blow of what she needed to say. "I let Yukina be kidnapped."

As the words left her mouth she glanced at Hiei who instantly went stiff. Unlike Kuwabara, he had _not_ come to that realization yet—he was more focused on getting his sister _back_ than on events that had already transpired. But for Kagome, it had transpired _twice,_ and she had in fact been more than capable of preventing it on her second playthrough.

But she didn't.

"I let Yukina be kidnapped, _both_ times." The Priestess added for good measure before her eyes settled back to the boiling human. He needed more than that to fully understand. "Just like how I allowed Keiko to be kidnapped by Hiei. How I allowed Eikichi to fall into the hands of Jaki. How I allowed Genkai to die at the Dark Tournament. How I allowed Yusuke to die not only once, but _twice._ How I allowed Kurama to be hunted, and how I allowed Hiei to fall from a floating block of ice and placed him in the hands of the worst possible beings to ever raise a child."

A movement from Hiei cut through her peripheral vision, but she didn't allow him to distract her focus, even as he hissed, "You _what?"_

"Even the stupid _cat?_ " Yusuke piped up, talking over the fire apparition's outburst.

"The point I'm trying to make is that I've allowed a lot of things to happen under my watch, Kazuma." She spoke slowly, not allowing her voice to rise. Everything was kept level and smooth; calm waters and ocean blues to temper his lava chambers before he could erupt. "And yes, that includes watching from a distance as Yukina was kidnapped from Genkai's temple. When Tarukane had taken her, the only things I could do were give Koenma an address, Hiei a videotape, and hope for the best."

"That explains your suspicion that led to me playing the tape for you." Kurama's voice snuck from behind her and aimed at the Fire demon. He sounded cool and, as usual, unaffected by the revelations.

Hiei's teeth clicked shut; Kagome heard the tell-tale sound of his hand moving to grip the hilt of his sword. "I didn't recognize the reaper that gave it to me. She didn't have an aura."

"Since we're all alive, I take it everything went according to plan." Genkai said from the doorway of the kitchen where she was carrying in a fresh kettle of tea.

"I stood back, because it was what I needed to do." Kagome continued to Kuwabara. "These events, no matter how bad, are all a part of your history. They're what made you who you are today. Time needed to flow the same way that it had the first time; except it was up to me to push it down the right path. That was my job as the Guardian of the Realms from then until now; to _steer_ events, not change them."

After saying that, Kagome looked at each one of her companions in turn. They were all hung on her words and paying attention now, even Yusuke, because they were significant. She really had been there, watching and pushing pawns behind the scenes. Their entire lives and fates had been intertwined since before most of them were born, and that single Priestess was the one to make it unfold. She wasn't there to deny that, and as much as she didn't want them to look at her as any different from the Kagome that they had gotten to know before, she _was_ different, and it was important that they realized that.

Despite looking so much like the friend they'd made, she was now a being of power and significant position. And yeah, that was just as weird for her to admit to herself as it was to admit to them, which was why she kept that exact admission unspoken.

"The moment my younger self went through the well, time caught up with me. That means that from here on out, I no longer know what's going to happen; I don't have any more secret guides or cheat sheets to show me what pieces need to be moved. That also means that I'm not confined to taking the backseat anymore, either. My job as Guardian remains and I'll be relying on my past experience to fulfill my responsibilities, to protect the realms, but now I'll be doing it on the frontlines." She turned her attention then back to Kuwabara, who was staring at her so fiercely that she would have withered under its intensity had she been made of anything less than finely tempered mom-steel. "I'll also be relying on all of you to aid me on missions when there are things that I need help setting straight—starting with rescuing Yukina. Her place is here, with you, and I won't let her absence continue any longer than it needs to. Kagami's defenses won't stand a chance against us, if we all work together. I get that you're angry, and I'm not asking for your forgiveness, Kazuma. But I need to know if you're going to stand with me, or if you'd rather go off on your own. This time I'm giving you the choice."

They all looked to Kuwabara for his response.

He took a moment to let her words sink in. In the meantime his hands relaxed, only to be crossed over his chest, and he raised his chin to look down his nose at her in a menacing way that managed to take aback even the ever critical Hiei. Finally he said, "You've already got a plan."

It was a statement, not a question.

Kagome's tall ears that had been trained straight throughout her entire monologue began to flatten ever so slightly under the glare. Still, she nodded.

Then silently, and oh so severely, Kuwabara sat back down into his place on the couch. He steepled his hands on his knees, ignored the belligerent stares of his friends, and waited for the Fox to continue. "Okay." He said when she didn't. "What's the plan, then?"

It wasn't a perfectly patched friendship, Kagome knew. Far from it. But cooperation was a really good place to start.

So Kagome let out the breath she'd been holding, smiled, and began to lay down her plan of attack against the Shadow Beast that had haunted her steps for so many years.

══════ With Reason ══════

Hiei draped his hand over his knee and stared over the heads of his teammates from where he'd perched along the back of the couch for a bird's eye view shortly after Kagome started laying out her battle plans. They were all huddled around the coffee table that had become her war room, with the exception of Keiko, who'd excused herself to take care of the tea.

"And what makes you think this is really going to work?" Yusuke asked skeptically. He balanced once of the chess pieces they'd been using as markers on its edge, but stopped his fiddling when it slipped from his forefinger and tumbled over.

"Kagami has added to his collection of powers since I saw him last, so even I'm not completely sure what we're going to be up against. He keeps himself well hidden." Kagome admitted. "But the one thing that I know for certain is that he can't physically be in two places at once. His life-force manipulation was stolen from one of the Shinobi Youkai about fifty years ago, and that requires full concentration to maintain. Without it, his back door will be left wide open for us to walk right in."

"That's fine and all, but how can you be so sure that we'll be able to distract him? Why wouldn't he just stay hidden and send puppets after both of us like he did the last time?"

Hiei scoffed from behind the Detective. "And we all remember how well that turned out."

The Black Fox ignored his outburst. "Last time he had the element of surprise on his side and one of our fighters wasn't combat ready. He sent out one high-class demon and a horde of low level monsters, which are easier to control but also easier to kill. I'm running on the assumption that he doesn't have the ability to control two of the more powerful demons at once, which means he'll be likely to use the same tactic again."

"Yeah, and he'll send the flock my way this round." Yusuke replied in a sour tone. "You said that, but how do you _know_ that? How do you _know_ he'll pick _us_ over you guys for the social call?"

"I don't." She replied bluntly, and the air in the room fell still. "I'm just guessing. We can only predict that he'll want to prevent _you_ from helping _me_ more than he wants to keep Yukina secured under his control. She was a message, after all, not the goal."

Not a single being in that room liked that they were talking about their little Ice Maiden friend as if she were a meaningless pawn in a greater game, but at the same time, none of them spoke out to deny it either. She was, after all, only kidnapped for the sake of getting Kagome's attention, right? For that, Hiei despised the Kitsune woman before them. He despised her and respected her and wanted her thrown under a buss, but only _after_ she fulfilled her end of their bargain and fixed her mess by getting Yukina back.

Only after that was he going to decide where he actually stood with the Priestess.

Until then, he would follow along with her little plan.

Yusuke chuckled, the sound breathy and halfhearted. "Alright, cool." He said after a moment. "So we're on the same page, then. I don't know shit either. Glad we can be honest now. So what _is_ the goal then, you think?"

"Kagome's life." The red haired Kurama spoke up from where he hovered behind her. "He told us as much in his letter. That particular element is not up for question."

"Riiight." Yusuke drew out the vowel of the words to an uncomfortable length, as though he could have possibly forgotten that. Or maybe the Detective _had_ forgotten. He'd been so preoccupied with Keiko and dealing his runaround with Kumiko that that little factoid very well may have slipped his mind.

It wasn't as though he was known for his strong attention span to begin with.

Still, Hiei followed Kagome's reaction. She looked away, turning to pick up the chess pieces that were scattered across the table. There was guilt hiding behind her eyes, but only for a heartbeat.

She placed the pieces back in their box and handed it off to Genkai who put it on a shelf.

"Final call them." Kagome said as she slowly lifted herself to her feet. The tail behind her swayed to straighten the pleats of her skirt before resting tame and still. "Is everybody alright with their assignment? Their teams?"

"I can't complain." Yusuke shrugged flippantly. " _Kuwabara_ on the other hand…"

The tall oaf lifted his head for the first time during that entire session to shoot a scalding look at his best friend. "It's whatever. As long as he stays out from under my feet." He replied harshly, not at all seeming 'whatever' about his partnership. Then his beady dark eyes shifted to glare at Hiei. If that look had come from anybody other than Kuwabara, the little fire apparition might have actually been intimidated. But this was Kuwabara, and Kuwabara was ridiculous in his eyes, no matter what. "You hear that, half-pint? You get in the way or mess this up somehow, and I'll have yer hide on a spit."

"Forgive me if I'm not shaking in my boots." Hiei shot back without missing a beat. "Instead of focusing on me, why don't you worry about your own two feet? We wouldn't want you tripping over the plan and getting yourself hurt in the process. Your face is ugly enough as it is without adding to the damage."

He waited for the less than witty retort that was sure to follow so that he could continue one of his favorite little games, but Yusuke joyfully beat them to the punch.

"Kids, please!" The atavism chastised as he rose from the couch and put hands on hips. "Save your lover's quarrel for after work, yeah? We've got a deranged Shadow-Kurama to fight, and I for one am really not looking forward to being on the receiving end of those freaky as fuck plants of his—on top of whatever else he'd got hiding up his sleeves. No offense, man, but you make a hell of a better ally than an enemy."

Hiei caught the darkness hiding in Kurama's grin.

"None taken."

"Then, if everyone's ready, let's head out." Kagome said and didn't wait long for the rest of them to stand before she started making her way out of that central room. Hiei couldn't help but notice the extra effort that Kurama put in to avoid contact with the Demonness by a fraction of a hair as she brushed past.

"Wait, already?" Yusuke piped up and he practically skipped across the room. "Shouldn't we have a warm-up session first, at least?"

Genkai snorted beside him. "What? Are you scared this Kagami is going to toast your ass while you're still room temperature?"

"Take the joke, old lady. You and I both know that stretching's for pansies and yoga moms."

"And yet you wonder why you're sore all the time." Keiko chided from the other side of the room.

His grin was devilish. "Only you make me sore, baby."

The elderly martial arts master smacked his shoulder, since his girlfriend was too far away to do it herself.

Stir-crazy. That was it. Yusuke had gone stir-crazy, not being able to confide in them while he was working on Kumiko's secret mission. Now he was taking every opportunity he could to speak his mind. It wasn't much different than the way he acted before, only now he was a bit more annoyingly enthusiastic about it.

Hiei was suddenly glad that he'd gotten paired with the brooding Kuwabara. Even if that was also annoying, in its own way.

Before they all made it to the hallway leading to the emptier reception room, a shout came from outside. One of the patrolling guards yelled warning. The sound made every single one of them leap to attention. Kagome was the first out the door, since she was already well in the lead, but Hiei and Kurama met her as close seconds on the deck.

"Stand down!" Kagome was yelling at Shunjun as the rest of their party filtered through the door to the commotion. Hiei held himself back from traveling much farther forward than the temple steps—it was for _strategic_ purposes and not at all because he felt a cold rush of fear down his spine at the bite in her voice.

Like a lightning storm released from hell, she thundered forward.

"You're not supposed to be here."

It didn't even sound like her.

"Well that's too bad, because here I am."

That one belonged to the demon standing just beyond the lowered sight of Shunjun's glowing palm.

" _Qui vole à l'aube_?" Kagome demanded in a human language Hiei didn't recognize.

Rolling his eyes, the stranger gave her a snarky answer. "My mother."

"This isn't a _joke,_ Toru. Answer the question." Her demeanor had flipped like a switch when she saw him, but when Kagome lowered herself into a more suitable stance for fighting, so too did the guards and fighters that surrounded them. Even Hiei felt himself compelled to follow suit by pulling his sword from its scabbard. An aura of command filled the air. Then she repeated the question. " _Qui vole à l'aube_? Who flies at _dawn_?"

From behind the young man's back, enormous wings unfurled to bare their downy undersides. The primary feathers that framed them splayed as if they were hairs standing on end. With one hearty flap that coated the leader of the Spirit Defense Force in a layer of sawdust, and they lay smooth once more. He said something under his breath before dutifully reciting his response to their practiced rote. " _Le Moineau qui court avec les chiens_." Then again, in English, "The Sparrow who runs with the dogs."

With a breath, Kagome's posture relaxed, and suddenly the invisible cloud of power that surrounded her was gone. One by one, everyone else did the same. However, Hiei was of a more skeptical sort, so he refused to put away his weapon until he learned more about the tall hawk and _why_ he was there in the first place.

"You're not supposed to be here." Kagome repeated.

 _No shit_. Hiei thought.

"Are you going to make me go back?"

She crossed her arms. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"Because they were my friends too." The Bird responded bitterly. "Or did you forget that?"

For as strong as her display had made her seem only a moment before, that response made the Priestess wince is if it had bit her. She took a step forwards. "Of course I didn't—"

The young man, Toru, she had called him, held up a hand.

"You never wanted us to get involved because you felt responsible. Hansha died under _your_ watch. Kagami left because he was scared of _you_. Koga died protecting _you._ But we were _all_ affected. Me, Rin, Shippo, _all_ of the wolves. You don't get the monopoly on this. I have just as much of a right to see this through to the end as you do."

Kagome looked fierce and ready to argue, but the Tori was solid in his stance; it was apparent that no amount of force, be it verbal, physical, or psychic, was going to get him to budge from his position on the playing field. The guy was stubborn.

Hiei sheathed his sword.

Kagome didn't respond for a long time. Instead she stared at him. In the silence between them, she shared a soliloquy with her body language. She was angry with him. She was disappointed in him. But underneath is all, she was scared for him. It was her tail that said this, as it curled securely around her thigh.

Her voice had grown impassive by the time she had come to her final decision on his presence there.

"If you think you're ready for this—to face him as your enemy and not as your friend—then I won't stop you." She said quietly, just for Toru. Hiei practically had to strain to eavesdrop. He doubted _Kurama_ was facing the same issue, the Fox-eared bastard. "He's not the same Kagami you knew. He'd been warped by centuries of hatred and resentment. You're going to want to reason with him. And when you can't? Will you be able to accept that?'

Stiffly, Toru nodded.

With a deep sigh, the Demoness turned her back on the boy that she'd helped to raise and faced the temple where they were all waiting for her next move.

"Everybody," She addressed them all and gestured less than enthusiastically to the speckled Hawk behind her. "This is Toru. He is the son of my Friend Shizume and a member of my pack. He's a good sentry, but an even better bladesman. He was supposed to leave this to me, but since he can't seem to leave well enough alone, he's going to make himself useful, instead. So Yusuke, he's on your team."

Turning again, Kagome then walked out towards the open space of the further courtyard where she would be opening her portals, but not before adding, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Stuffing his hands deep within his pockets, Yusuke gave the newest teammate he never asked for a a quick one over and said, "Greaat. I always wanted a cockatiel." Toru's resulting glare showed all of them just how happy he was to be under the Detective's command, but Yusuke ignored it. Instead, ready to get the show on the road, the Mazoku hafling leapt from the deck and followed after Kagome, asking about whether or not they were going to be getting cool code phrases too.

Hiei stood as the last remaining fighter on the deck—not including Genkai, because she wasn't going to be joining them on that mission—and he watched as Kuwabara stopped beside Toru to analyze just how useful the Bird would be to them in that battle to win back the love of his life. There was an odd contrast between the two. They were nearly the same height, if you excluded the human's hair, but unlike Kuwabara, Toru was slender and lithe; the bulk of his muscles seemed to reside in the thick appendages on his back, though his arms were toned with a familiarity with a sword. Where Kuwabara's hair was a fluff of upward curling orange, Toru's was a shock of long, downward spiking feathers.

"Nice wings." The human commented dryly.

Not taking kindly to all the extra attention and still chewing on Yusuke's avian insult, the spiteful Bird snapped at him. "Unlike your face, they're both functional and flattering." And without waiting for a retort, he coolly made to join his pack alpha and newly appointed babysitter where he could get caught up to speed on the plan.

Sputtering and pissed at the backhanded comment from the complete stranger, Kuwabara turned a new and unhealthy shade of red before shouting, "What was that, you little bird brain!?" And just like that he snapped to a slightly more normal state of Kuwabara and started mouthing off at Toru who, much to Hiei's delight, delivered the treatment right back with a frigid sass and spite.

He wasn't sure exactly what it was about the new guy that rubbed him the right way, but Hiei had a feeling that wasn't going to totally hate the guy.

In fact, they might even get along just fine, provided Toru was as good a fighter as Kagome claimed.

Finally, after all of that was said and done, Hiei stepped down from the deck to join them, more ready than ever to jump through a strange portal and fight whatever mysteries awaited them on the other side.

For the sake of Yukina.

══ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ══

 **Bonus Scenes**

 **Before The Dark Tournament**

 **Sesshoumaru's Manor, The Rogue Lands**

She heard them trotting down the covered deck well before the door to her bedroom swung open.

Shippo had a skip in the third beat of his step, as he usually did when he was excited, and the heels of Toru's feet were dragging, which meant that the Red Fox was pulling him along. The two had been waiting patiently for that day ever since it had been announced just who the human representatives would be on the Guest team in the Dark Tournament that year—about as patient as a gelding waiting to be let out to pasture after a long winter.

The no-so-little Kit had been chomping at the bit for weeks. And with reason—it was the first time he'd be able to see Kuwabara, Kurama, and the others in over five hundred years. From a distance, at least.

"Okay!" He yipped in lieu of a greeting. "How ugly are we!?"

Kumiko set down her mug and looked up from the plastic protected papers she'd been picking through. She couched out the little iced tea she'd yet to swallow when she saw the forms that Shippo had disguised the pair in. It was a good thing the book was laminated.

"That good?"

"Oh, Toru, I'm so sorry." The Wolf who wasn't really a Wolf wiped her mouth before hiding a smile behind her hand. "But at least you're going to fit right in."

The taller of the two scowled and shook the spiked green monstrosities that were hiding his scruffy but meticulously maintained speckled feathers, His scaly green skin was mostly covered by swaths of ripped black fabric and dangling chains, The plumed hair on his head had been replaced by downward curved horns that jutted in much the same way as his original pointed locks, only much pointier.

Beside him the Fox was even less recognizable.

Shippo's disguise looked like the grotesque love child of an adder and a deep sea angler fish. His sickeningly pale skin was covered in a spiked armor, sharp and seemingly poisonous with each mound tipped with black. His face was broad and flat, with razor sharp teeth and a fuzzy forked tongue that couldn't quite fit in his mouth. To make up for the lack of a nose, Shippo had bejeweled his forehead with dozens of beady little eyes that all seemed to be looking in different directions and a single, protruding appendage that could have been a lure but could have also been an antenna.

Lower level demons would never notice as they infiltrated their ranks in the stadium seats. With their auras hidden the boys were completely indistinguishable from the far weaker classes that liked to go bump in the night.

The Fox-fish-snake-thing strutted in a circle, wearing nothing but a pair of cut off shorts to display his handiwork. The shorts were radiating a foul stench that was only made worse by the Makal summer's heat.

"I know, right?" He snickered at Kumiko's grimace. "I let a fish rot out back for the finishing touch. Don't worry! It wasn't one of the pond fish! Rin would have killed me if I touched one of her pretties. I found it in the kitchen like a week ago."

"You're throwing those away before you get home."

"Whaaat?" He drew out the word like a petulant child. "But I like these pants." With a flourish, Shippo pointed his toe and ran his fingers up his gnarly leg in a sultry manner. "They flatter my figure."

Kumiko rolled her eyes despite the laughter threatening to spill from her pursed lips and pushed up from her desk. "Get out." She shooed them back towards the threshold. "I don't want that smell to linger."

Toru was already halfway down the deck by the time the Kitsune let himself be shoved from the room by the woman that matched him in height, but not quite in brute strength. What the woman lacked in bulk, she certainly made up in delicate finesse and skill. He hadn't even seen how she managed to close the door behind them without taking her hands off his shoulders.

When he was thoroughly kicked out and deposited well enough away so that the fishiness could not cling to her linens, Shippo turned to face the Wolf. His silly grin fell brittle.

How many years had it been since he'd seen the demoness' true face?

How long would she be forced to remain in hiding?

Surely the detectives' appearance in the tournament was a good sign that the end was drawing near. If he had the vulpine ears on the top of his head as most of the other members of his race had, they would have drooped just a smidge before perking straight to attention once more. Or not, since they would have been hidden by his Glamour.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come, Ma?" He asked. "We managed to scrounge up another ticket from the scalper for pretty cheap."

Over his shoulder he heard Toru quip. "Shippo punched the guy in the face."

The pale skin of Shippo's Glamour turned a vibrant purple. "Only because _you_ pissed the guy off! It was self-defense! I had _no_ problem paying the original price, but _you_ couldn't keep your mouth shut! The guy nearly _bit_ me."

Kumiko stopped him before he could go into detail about the slimy lizard-men—both the one that sold him the arena seats and the one he'd turned the hawk into out of spite.

"It wouldn't be a good idea for me to go. I'm not sure I'd be able to hold myself back from interfering if I go in person." There was a sadness in her eyes. The Priestess always hated the tournament; watching the human team be massacred by bloodthirsty hellions for an inch of fame and glory made her sick. But that year wasn't one she was going to miss, because it would be the first time in about fifty years that the humans actually won. That and the BlackBlack Club would all be killed over the course of the week, leaving the tournament committee without the funding to host another in the future, making it the last Dark Tournament. But Shippo didn't know that. "Don't worry, though, I'm still going to watch. I've got a date."

Shippo chuckled. "With the TV?"

Kumiko hadn't been out on a real date with anyone since Koga died—whatever it was she was to Sesshoumaru didn't count as _dating_ in the grown kit's book. He doubted that was going to change so close to her original timeline and impending reunions.

The Ookami shrugged. "The broadcast hasn't been as terrible as it used to be since that crazy little Blond Fox took over announcing." She didn't confirm or deny his statement. "Take Tomo with you, instead. I'm sure they would love to go. And be safe."

He rolled his eyes and responded, "I'm always safe."

It was a little bit of a bummer that she wasn't going to experience the wilds of the Spirit Detectives in person, but he hadn't actually _expected_ her to agree to attend. She was always so strict when it came to her Spirit World business and, as far as he knew, she never once meddled. At least not out in the open where she could be identified.

It was Koenma's job to be the face of the operation.

Kumiko smiled warmly. It was nice, but _man_ did he miss seeing Kagome's real smile.

Smelling the disappointment on him, his secret mom squeezed his shoulder. "Have fun at the tournament, but not too much fun. I don't want to hear that you got beat up because you were rooting too much for the Human team."

"I would never! Humans are gross! Why would I root for humans!? Arrg!" He postured, but unfortunately Shippo wasn't nearly as good an actor as Kagome—Kumiko. _Kagomiko_.

Kumiko hesitated, as if suddenly realizing that letting her boy off to frolic in a stadium of thousands of barely mindful and aggressive lesser demons to watch as people he loved got bloodied and battered in the arena below might not be such a great idea. "On second thought. Don't root for Yusuke. Like, at all."

He grimaced. "Trust me. I won't be." Why would he root for the one detective that never showed him an ounce of kindness? Or even given him the time of day?

For a second he thought that his mother's expression faltered. But no, it must have just been a trick of the light shining through the deck's eaves.

"Get me one of those souvenir daggers, would you?"

"You got it."

"Be safe?"

" _Ma_!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She held up her hands in defense. "Go on, before I change my mind."

The grin found its way back onto Shippo's face. "I'm an adult, Ma. I don't think you're allowed to change your mind." Cutting off any arguments that Kumiko might have had to that, the Fish Beast grappled forward to pull her into a hug. She gasped and pushed him back.

"I'm not hugging you with that fish in her pocket." She scolded at arms' length.

Shippo wiggled his fingers threateningly, but didn't push himself past her comfort zone.

"You know you love me."

"You're _lucky_ I love you."

Satisfied with her admission of love, Shippo backed off and started down the deck where Toru had already disappeared into the main building. "I'll see you next week!" He called back to her, tossing a wave behind him.

"Shippo, wait!" He paused and looked back at the woman who raised him. Concern colored her forest eyes. "Steer clear of rows 157 through 212, you hear me? And swear to me that you'll leave before the final match starts."

Beneath the Glamour, his tail twitched. "That bad?"

"Yeah. That bad."

His jagged smile stretched uncomfortably from ear to ear. " _Sweet._ " He said, but he quickly retracted it when Kumiko crossed her arms and pinned him with a serious look. "I'll be _careful._ " Shippo assured her. Then he pointed to his face. "I'm all eyes."

His mother snorted at the pun and he reveled in the relieved dimpling of her cheeks. "Just go." She waved him off. Satisfied, Shippo continued across the deck to where Toru was waiting impatiently and, without turning back for fear of her retracting her decision to let them go, they disappeared into the main building.

Kumiko bit her lip when they were out of sight. She really hoped that he took her words to heart and left before the beginning of the final match between team Urameshi and team Toguro. It wasn't the destruction of the arena or the wild flailing attacks that she was worried about—Shippo and Toru were smart enough to get out of that unscathed—better she didn't want him to see the death of Kuwabara. Fake as it would be, the young Fox was quick to act on emotion and they didn't need him screwing anything up in a fit of rage. If Shippo stepped forward to fight Toguro, he might be able to take him on. But then Yusuke wouldn't win the match and gain the energy boost that he would need to be able to revive and beat Sensui in the near future.

She couldn't control her son's free will, the Priestess knew that, she could only trust that he would heed her warnings and preserve the timeline.

So she let him go to the Dark Tournament unsupervised.

═══════ Tsarashi ══════════

Cheers erupted in the grand hall of Koenma's office. Their hollers bounced off of the vaulted ceilings, overpowering the gasps and heckles from the audience displayed on the large monitor. "Did you see that!?" One of the ogres crowding the desk exclaimed from the back. "There isn't anything left of him but a smudge on the wall!" Another cried. The smallest of the ogre interns sitting clustered beside Kumiko on the mahogany desktop, a green boy with three horns, cradled his bucket of popcorn close with a shudder. "I'm sure glad he's on _our_ team." He gulped. "That attack is something else."

Kumiko agreed with a nod and took a kernel from his bucket. In the Spirit Realm, the Priestess had switched into wearing her humanoid Kumiko form, with its rounded ears and missing tail, and a formal blue kimono. Like that she passed off as just another Ferry Girl, and she visited often enough that the workers there had accepted her without question. The only ones who knew any different were Koenma, Jorge, and the since retired Kal.

When Koenma was out of the office, she took the liberty of sneaking in and spying on her charges from the gigantic water mirror screen—with his consent, of course, not that the ogres knew that. Often times the ogres joined her; they loved any excuse to relax from their stressful jobs and knew that the rebellious and fun-loving Spirit Guide Kumi wouldn't rat them out for slacking. And in return, they didn't question it whenever she brought along a friend. They didn't question much of anything when the boss was away and they were free to play.

As the colorful men continued to whoop and cheer, the huge doors to the office cracked open. Instantly they all froze in place, thinking their revelry in watching the Dark Tournament had been discovered. When it turned out to be a false alarm, the entire room relaxed and went back to their excited chatter.

Rin quietly pressed shut the door with her elbow and distributed around the fresh batch of popcorn. "What did I miss?" She asked when she handed Kumi the final bag and reclaimed her seat on the other side of the woman.

"Hiei just won his match against Zeru." Kumi told the young lady, who was also disguised to be humanoid. It was Rin's favorite Glamour, the one with brown eyes and razor straightened bangs that made her look like a porcelain geisha doll, especially wearing that gold embroidered floral kimono.

"It's over already? But I only left for a minute!"

"You shoulda seen it!" One of the ogres started, tripping over his words in his excitement. "It was a blast of hell fire! I didn't know that little guy had it in 'ern!"

"He used a technique called the Dragon of the Darkness flame." The older woman corrected him. When they realized that she knew something about the technique, the ogres closest to her leaned in to listen. Kumi tapped her forearm as she explained. "The Darkness Flame is an attack where the wielder uses his soul as a lure to summon a hell dragon from the deepest levels of the Demon Realm. He must have done extensive research and training to be able to handle the dragon as much as he did, because every other being who's ever summoned that dragon has been killed by it. Take a look at his arm. He sacrificed it to pacify the dragon's bloodlust. I wouldn't be surprised if that was only a fraction of the dragon's strength, since he only offered such a small piece of himself in return. We should keep an eye on him, because that arm of his will probably be a handicap for the rest of the tournament."

Rin's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Why would he give himself such a handicap in the first match of the tournament? Couldn't he have defeated Zeru on his own?"

"Yeah." One of the bigger red ogres added. "He wasn't touched by Zeru's fire attack. Hiei should have been able to take him out without a problem, don't you think?"

"He did it to show off, without a doubt." Kumi said with an exasperated shrug that told them all what she thought about the younger demon's brash display. The boy had power and potential, but his head was hotter than a Carolina reaper at times, "No one in that stadium has been taking their team seriously until this moment. They were only seeing them as the weakling human team. And with Yusuke out cold and Kuwabara's loss, they were starting to look like a joke. Hiei pretty much just flipped off the entire bracket board by saying _'look at what I can do. Now I'll beat the rest of you with my hand tied behind my back.'_

"He'll probably pay the price for his decision later, but for now he achieved his goal. Look in the stadium. Look at the announcer. The Guest team just became a competitor on the board and nobody was expecting that."

Kumi's little audience ooed and awed, eating up her observations and began to share their own opinions towards Hiei's decision. Then one of the senior ogres standing in the pack behind the desk, the pack that was more focused on the TV than the pretend Reaper's analysis, pushed through their bubble and pointed at the screen: "That guy just killed his teammates!" He announced with horror to redirect their attention.

Sure enough, the camera was focused on a man dragging the other two members of the opposing team from the tunnel where they'd run from the arena. There was blood oozing from where he'd cracked their heads together. Without much care, the demon dropped the bodies in a heap and addressed the announcer. They watched as he wobbled to the stage, a metal flask in his hand. He didn't make it onto the stage on his first try.

"That man is totally _drunk._ " Rin noted with disgust. "Is he honestly going to fight like that? What a mess. Oh no," She placed her hand over her mouth in secondhand embarrassment. "He's got the mic."

The ogres burst out laughing when the demon spoke in his thick accent, declaring his heartfelt distain for the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and flirting with Koto, the little Kitsune announcer. They joked about the screwball who'd seemingly come in from off the streets, until someone from behind Rin's head mentioned that Yusuke had woken up. Once more the room erupted in cheers, quite the opposite of the raucous jeers and hoots exploding from the broadcast.

When the two started bickering, the blue violet-blue haired drunkard and their darling delinquent detective, the room rooted for Yusuke. Then suddenly the two fighters started grinning, and all of the onlookers were baffled. Unfortunately for the spectators of the Dark Tournament, none of the contestants were miked, so they, were left guessing when Yusuke and Chu's conversation took a complete one-eighty. The ogres didn't let their confusion put a damper on their excitement, though, and they continued roaring for their team.

From the corner of her eye, among the energetic pack of blue, red, and green skinned Spirit World office workers, Rin saw Kumiko sitting quietly, watching the boys' transition with an almost giddy anticipation, as if she were watching one of her favorite scenes in a book be animated for the first time. There was a sparkle in her green eyes. And then she began to smile.

Although she didn't want to disrupt Kagome from her trance—the woman was very much _Kagome_ in that moment—Rin placed her hand on the older demoness' knee and asked, "Friend or foe?"

The Kitsune who was disguised as a Wolf and then disguised again as a Spirt Guide glanced down to the girl's hand, pictured the exact page from her relic of a Guide Book that she'd refreshed on earlier that morning, and then smiled warmly back at the screen.

"Friend." She said without hesitation. " _Definitely_ friend."

And with that, the two demonesses settled in for a friendly knife edge death match alongside their team's best and brawniest cheerleaders.

═════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ════

 **Chapter Eleven: End**


	12. Winter's Search (Part Two)

**Chapter Eleven: Winter's Search (Part Two)**

 **Two Hundred Years Prior, Ice Maiden Territory**

There it was. Kumiko looked down at the newly fashionable bracelet watch latched at her wrist. Right on schedule. Just as it was supposed to be. The Guidebook had never steered her wrong, and on that day it was more of the same.

Except it wasn't every day that she'd been given a task with an exact date and coordinate. That particular list of duties, tucked at the very back of the book, was about as vague as it was short. However, starkly separating it from the rest of the pages of reading material, its contents weren't up for personal interpretation.

Go to this location on this date. Retrieve the fallen package if its seekers do not find it, and place it where it will be found.

That was all it said.

Go here, do the thing.

She could do that.

Turning back up to the sky, the Wolf squinted at the little black dot that was steadily growing larger as it careened its way through the ice-laden clouds. In that barren land of white, she figured it safe to assume that dot to be her mysterious package. Because, honestly, just how often did the Ice Maiden race drop parcels from their keep in the skies?

Wait.

Kumiko's thoughts froze, even as the package fell closer and closer to earth like a bowling ball.

After opening the Guardian Guidebook, she'd had its information memorized within the first couple months, easy. But even now, some three hundred years later with only the occasional dabble in its depths thus far, she was still making new connections between casually mentioned events, stories, and tasks that had been laid out in a manner that made it seem as though they had nothing to do with each other.

She should really have known better by now.

 _Everything_ was connected.

Green eyes widened behind the black veil she'd worn to hide her face. The snap of realization was as hard as it was painful.

That wasn't a simple box of cookies falling from just around a single passenger plane's cruising altitude of 3,000 meters, where the islands of a civilization floated in solitude.

It certainly wasn't a care package from beyond, either.

It was a _baby._

Instinctively, her body jerked forward; tendons popped at the unexpected speed of her lunge.

The wording had been specific. Retrieve the fallen package, the task had said. _Fallen,_ not _falling._ And only after the people looking for it failed to find it.

Was her future self _insane!?_ How could she _allow_ herself to let it fall!? How could it possibly _survive—!?_

She needed to catch him!

But she didn't make it much farther than that thought.

A wide river appeared in front of her without warning, cutting off her path. _Too fast_. She wasn't going to be able to stop in time. At least, not in a pretty way. Tucking tail between legs and arms to face, the Ookami bit her lip and took the tumble shoulder first. The pain of dislocation was immediate, but far from her concern. It would heal. Bumps and scrapes would always heal.

It took the entire distance from where she dropped all the way to the water's edge for her body's momentum to slow to a complete stop.

Her head spun.

Train all you want to be an elegant, light on your feet demoness; there was nothing to stop the reflexes of sheer human panic.

With a groan, Kumiko pulled herself up to her knees to catch her breath. Just in time to see the black bundle fall into the center of the water's depths.

It landed with a little _plunk,_ like a marble being dropped in a drinking glass.

And so it had fallen.

The Guidebook was never wrong.

"Did'ja hear that?"

Kumiko stiffened at the sound of the voice. A barrier sprang up around her. It wasn't invisible yet, not in the slightest, but its glimmering sheen was easy enough to overlook against the sparking backdrop of snow and sun reflecting on the surface of unfrozen water. Still, not taking any chances, the brown Wolf eased behind the nearest bush.

"Somethin' fell around here somewhere, I swear."

"Is this like tha fire thing? Last time we's here you swore the sky was a burnin.'"

"I _swear_ , it _was!"_ Kumiko held her breath when the two owners of the voices stepped up behind her. The shrub to her left began to rustle. "We're not alone in these feckin' woods. Lookit this tread! Whatever it was, it was _right here!"_

Abruptly, the rustling stopped. Kumiko stole a glimpse of the rattily clad man as he was jerked away by another.

Bandits.

Some very _important_ bandits.

"Come on, stupid! It's the cold gettin' to ya tiny head. Yous not gonna find nothin'. Not even brimble berries. This place is dead. Ain't nothin' here."

 _There is!_ Kumiko thought with all her might. _In the water! Look in the water!_

They didn't. Of course they didn't; they had no reason to go for a polar bear swim in search of a noise that they only thought they might have heard. It was nonsense to even suggest that they might.

The voices of the two foul smelling demons grew quieter and more distant as she tried not to rip her hair out. All Kumiko could do was stay still and silent, staring in horror out at the calm waters of the river until they walked away.

One hand pressed firmly to her mouth, she checked the hands of that watch she was wearing.

It'd been almost one full minute since he'd gone under.

Demon babies were durable, but they weren't _immortal._

Then, without even bothering to check if the coast was completely clear, the Demoness took the biggest breath she could hold and sprang over the steep, rocky edge and into the slow moving currents of the river. Her cloak was bulky—she probably should have taken it off first—and her tail pulled awkwardly, but she'd always been a strong swimmer thanks to classes at the community pool when she was little. And, luckily, she wasn't diving in completely blind. The blazing aura seeping through the cracks of that carefully sealed wrapping was a bitter and sharp beacon in the darkness, guiding her with the promise of misfortune.

Kumiko knew that aura didn't define the child and she didn't let it wrap her up in the negative intent it carried; it was only a manifestation of his heritage. He didn't choose to be born of such an impossible union. At such a tender age, he had no hand in the threads of fate or preconceived prejudices that were bound to warp his childhood.

In the future, she knew that he would learn to choose his own path instead of being swept away by the undertow of stereotype and expectation.

He was ultimately going to be the master of his own fate.

If he survived that first trial.

Arms stretched as far as they could reach forward, Kumiko's finger grasped a hold the ornate sutra wrappings of the swaddle. Compared to her wet clothes, the bundle was light. Then she kicked and dragged him to the surface as fast as her legs would take them. When land was once more beneath her toes, the disguised Priestess fell to her knees, fixed her dripping veil, and carefully lowered the parcel in her hands to inspect the status of her precious cargo.

Giant eyes with their beady red pupils blinked up at her like droplets of freshly spilled blood, not a bit phased by his near brush with death.

He was a tiny thing, even for a newborn, and he should have at least been crying from the wet alone, if not from the fall and the cold. Silence reigned as if he were an incarnation of winter itself. He stared at what little he could see of her eyes with curiosity. With _Intelligence_.

Then, when he determined that she wasn't going to throw him back into the river, he smiled. It was crooked, a devilish little grin.

Kumiko's heart shattered for the boy.

Again, from a distance, the canine heard a rustling in the underbrush. Two familiar voices followed. This time she wasn't about to let the pair of bandits catch her off guard. Vigilant and hyper aware of not only her surroundings, but of the original task she'd set out to accomplish that day, Kumiko carefully set the bundled infant on the ground near the water's shore, right at the end of the gouge she'd made in the dirt. She wiped a droplet of water from the baby's cheek before letting him go. A broken sprig of dead leaves made for a terrible and conspicuous cover. He was bound to be discovered.

"I'm tellin' ya, _somethin's_ over here _."_

It tore her heart apart to just leave him there, but she knew it had to be done. There was no way she would have been able to take him with her—the last time she picked up an orphan in an attempt to fix history it didn't exactly go so well—but the thought of the childhood he would be forced to endure if she let him be was even more devastating. Kumiko looked at him for as long as she could; she watched as he reached an itty bitty hand out of his swaddle, not letting go of the jeweled necklace clutched in the other. He grabbed one of the leaves on the branch. It disintegrated at his touch. That fact seemed to astound him, so he did it again.

He was just so small and so innocent.

Perhaps…

Kumiko crouched down and slowly leaned forward to take the babe back into her arms.

Perhaps it would be different this time.

All he needed was a mother, right?

She was one of those.

"Hey _you_!"

The bandit startled Kumiko out of her maternal hypnosis and forced her to make a decision.

She fled.

Alone.

The bandits found the baby she'd abandoned and took it with them back to their camp where they'd fight with their leader about whether they should raise it or eat it.

And history continued, unchanged.

When Kumiko eventually took her leave of the Ice Maiden territory, it was with a heavy heart and two very empty, very _cold_ hands.

Every life was a living, breathing piece of a greater puzzle—one that was going to come together whether she wanted it to or not. She doubted that would be the last atrocity she'd need to commit before the end of her tenure _._ It was part of the role she had to play. They _all_ had their lives and fates to carry out in that world, in that _timeline._

But _,_ unfortunately _,_ all lives were not created equal.

All fates were not just.

And _time_ was nothing but a cruel joke.

 **Present Day**

"Well crap." That was the first thing Yusuke said when his feet touched down on the other side of the hideously girly pink portal. "Nobody told me I was going to need a parka. That Shadow bastard couldn't have picked a warmer place to hang out in? I hear New Zealand's nice this time of year."

A gust of wind nearly hooked him forward. "Hey!" He shouted, looking up through the gnarled branches of the dead trees to the dense and hazy white atmosphere above. The little brown speck of a hawk was the size of a quarter by the time he locked on. _Damn,_ that bird got real high _real_ quick. He cupped a hand around his mouth for a makeshift megaphone. "Team leader didn't say ' _go'_ yet!"

"Let him scout ahead." Kurama said from behind him, smooth voice at a far more cautious volume. "An extra eye in the sky will help us to find Kagami all the more quickly. Kagome did emphasize his skills as a lookout."

"Yeah, she _als_ _o_ said he had to listen to everything I say." Scoffing at how quickly the unsociable bird guy broke _that_ little agreement, the detective turned to his partner. Kurama had one knee in the ankle deep snow that surrounded them and his palm to the earth beneath. The shimmering gap between the realms was already closed and gone. It left behind nothing but the barest tickle of Kagome's energy at the redhead's back.

The bedazzled tear deposited them in the last place the Priestess had been able to sense the duplicate of Kurama's aura, but since that power of hers was primarily connected to _people,_ not _places,_ evenshe couldn't tell them where in Makai that actually was. Going back was going to be another matter entirely. They were stuck there until Kagome and the others finished their half of the mission and came back to retrieve them—or _rescue_ them, depending on how hellish things were about to go down. He was relying on that return-home portal, because if it didn't open up that would mean that they needed to hoof it all the way back home on foot from wherever the heck they were just spit out. It could take _days_.

It would also mean that something bad happened to Kagome and the others on the other side, and Yusuke and Kurama would have no means to help. There was a lot of trust being thrown about on this mission, and he still wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. But it was there, he just needed to make sure they fulfilled their half of the plan.

And if worse came to worse, he could always contact Kuwabara on their communicators, if the oaf remembered to bring it along. If he didn't, Hiei was usually pretty good about keeping his on and at the ready—not that the little hothead would ever admit that out loud to anybody.

Yeah, everyone was going to be _fine._ They always got out of sticky situations and followed through with their missions in the end. Usually unscathed, except of course the few times that he—

Yusuke reached in his back pocket and blinked. He patted his butt, then the pockets in the front. A shake of his windbreaker told him that it was in fact just light enough to be a windbreaker, no less, no more.

 _Fuck_.

He left his communicator on a dresser back at Genkai's, didn't he? Stupid.

Yusuke was just about to ask Kurama if he'd been a smart little graham cracker and remembered to being _his_ communicator when the Fox spoke up. "Be on your guard, Yusuke." The Kitsune warned calmly and rose to his feet, brushing snow from his pant legs before it could melt much more into the fabric. "We've fallen into a trap."

"Well that's not totally ominous. I thought we _wanted_ to fall in the trap."

"As a distraction, yes." Kurama paused. He followed the curve of Toru's flight pattern with glamoured green eyes before narrowing at the fog hiding most everything else from view. A muscle visibly tightened at his jaw. "Kagami is playing games. If my aura was here before, it no longer is now. However that is the least of our concerns. Had you remained partnered with Hiei, this terrain would have been ideal. With me, we are at a disadvantage."

The dot that was Toru disappeared.

Yusuke slid a foot in the white powder. "The ground is frozen." He surmised. "Probably not the best place for gardening."

A nod. "Frozen, infertile, and inhospitable. As well as being uninhabited." He pointed along their limited horizon line where the haze met the ground, creeping heavy in the air like steam in a bathroom. "This is not fog. They are clouds. We are on an island, Yusuke, floating high in the sky. One foul step and we walk off the very edge."

Realization lit the Mazoku's eyes. "Don't Ice Maidens live on a floating island covered in snow?"

"Not far from here, I would assume. However, on this particular island there is only the two of us, our new companion, and—"

"Kagami!" The sharp, accusatory voice of Toru shouted out as he reappeared high in the sky above them.

If Yusuke hadn't already shattered their element of surprise, that certainly did the trick. The cursed name reverberated across the still land. A burst of wind followed, strong and unrelenting as it forced away the moisture in the air. The two Spirit Detectives had to brace themselves against it or risk being swept from their feet to the unseen edge of the platform. The freshest layer of snow was blown clear away. Then the hawk dove head first, wings pinned tight and flat to his back.

"He's got the guy! Come on!" Yusuke hollered and sprinted through the thin wood. Visibility still wasn't perfect, but at least now they could make out the trees from the shrubs.

They heard the collision before they caught up to Toru and their quarry. The ground was a broken mess of frozen, upended dirt, muddied snow, and feathers, with the two beings grappled close in the center of it all. Massive unfurled wings mostly hid them from view. "Wait." Kurama's hand on his chest held Yusuke back from jumping right into the fray. Toru's foot slipped back on the unforgiving ground, turning them to the side and revealing the glint of knives locked hilt to hilt, then a woman.

Toru's seething rage did nothing to the humored expression of the Ice Maiden.

Curly, rich green hair that fell loose around her shoulders made her look more like a mermaid than a being that lived a heartless existence in the frozen tundra of Demon World. It was the silver eyes, lacking all empathy and warmth that belied the nature of her heritage.

To Yusuke and Kurama, she was a stranger.

Upon seeing the Detective and his teammate, the woman smirked. She ducked from her deadlock with the Bird and before Toru could recover from the sudden lack of pressure holding him upright, she kicked him square in the chest. He was pushed back hard and slid to a stop right between the Fox and the Mazoku.

"So I couldn't help but notice that the two of you have matching shivs." Yusuke quipped, not pulling his eyes from the demoness now circling their party. "Are you two buddy-buddy, or did it just happen to pick your pocket when you swan dove its ass into the ground?"

"They're _stilettos_. Both mine." The hawk coughed, trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of him. He didn't expressly admit that their enemy had taken one of his weapons in the three minutes that they've been there, but she totally took one of his weapons.

Hot damn, that had to be a new time record. And he was the new guy on the team, too. Double ouch. That was really embarrassing. As the team leader, Yusuke felt that he should probably reassure the hawk, really spread that positivity gospel and team spirit.

Instead, the words that came out of his mouth were, "I don't care what kind of _shoes_ you wear in your spare time. I meant the _knives_ , stupid."

Toru spared him a glare before focusing back on the Maiden.

What? The setup was perfect! He couldn't _not_ say it! The bird literally flew right into that one. He was wielding stilettos for crying out loud! What a _dork._

"Is this Kagami?" Kurama asked under his breath. The seed from his hair shifted from sprout to bud to whip in his fingertips. "Or is this another innocent bystander being manipulated by the true Kagami's power?"

All of the humor wilted from Yusuke's expression. He didn't like to think about that—that the puppet master he and Hiei killed before had been just some random sap caught up in a five century old feud by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the likelihood was high. Too high.

The reminder made him despise the Shadow Beast all the more.

"I don't know." Toru admitted.

Guilt from shedding innocent blood boiled to fury within Yusuke Urameshi until little wisps of blue aura filled the air around him. The thing before them that was shaped like an Ice Maiden stopped walking her circle. "Doesn't matter." The half demon punched a fist into his open palm and cracked his neck to the side. "We're bringing it in _alive_."

"Understood." Replied Kurama.

At that the woman with the emerald green hair laughed, reedy like a flute. From her feet the ice shot forth, quickly encompassing the ground with points of frozen stalagmites and threatening to coat the entire floating island in a sub-glacial forest. The pointed tip of the black dagger in her hand grew to a crystalline rapier. She locked eyes with the three men before her, and their battle began.

══════ With Reason ══════

Death and booze. That was the cocktail of scents that assaulted Hiei the moment he passed to the other side of the barrier ahead of the others. Blood, sweat, piss, power—they were all smells that clung to the winds in certain parts of the Demon Realm, usually the more wild territories. It stirred the warm fuzzies within him, a sort of childhood nostalgia that helped him to feel both on a razor's edge and completely at home. Just like the old days.

He didn't even need to look around to know that Kagome had led them right into the heart of the Forest of Fools.

High up in the canopies the vines grew so mossy and thick that they practically blocked out the light of the sun. The light that did reach the ground was green from the foliage, dying everything it touched in the sickly tint. Growing out of the ground like a medieval industrial weed just ahead of him was an old stone structure, its bricks also overrun with moss. Partway torn down, partway never finished in the first place, the standing walls of that building looked as if it'd been a popular bandit outpost for dozens of years, used and abandoned time and time again as nefarious groups passed through.

Yukina was inside, supposedly.

That had been the last place where Kagome had sensed the Ice Maiden's aura before it went completely offline. Just like when she had been kidnapped by that filth of a Human bastard, Tarukane, even the extra sensitive power of the Jagan was unable to feel her presence. Meaning one of two things: either there were wards keeping her well hidden…

Or she was dead.

If she _was_ dead Hiei swore he would torture the Shikon Priestess. Spirit World be damned, he would rip her limb from limb until she whimpered her last sweet breath, and he would welcome any punishment that came from it.

Fed up with waiting a whole five seconds, the antsy Fire Apparition was just about to enter the compound to handle the situation on his own—hell knew he didn't need _help_ —when his two tagalongs finally decided to drop in through the Miko's portal. It flickered closed behind the woman without as much as a wave of her hand.

Normally a rift like that between the realms would have taken the power of at least two highly trained and focused psychics or Spirit Guides to open. Even with the barrier dissolved it was an intense task. Yet the Vixen didn't even _blink_.

He would _not_ be impressed by that.

She was the " _Guardian of the Realms"_ and all that chaff. Obviously it came with the territory.

"He thinks he's being _real_ funny, doesn't he?" Kuwabara growled from beneath the tree branch Hiei had perched himself on after taking in their location. He laughed with a bitter humor. "He takes Yukina and puts her in a castle _?_ A _castle!_ Of all the stupid places. What an _idiot_. Doesn't he know that the Prince always rescues his Princess in the fairy tales? It's the unwritten law of romance. He couldn'ta made it any easier for us. We've got this in the _bag!_ "

Dropping down beside the Human, Hiei chuffed. "Save your gloating for _after_ we've found the girl. First of all, we don't know if she is even _here_."

" _After?"_ Kuwabara rounded on him, mocking. "What d'ya mean, _after?_ Are you saying _you_ haven't found her yet? Isn't that like the whole reason why you're on the rescue team in the first place? You're supposed to be some great finder! Our bloodhound from hell! What's wrong? Your freaky eyeball not screwed in right today? Fat load of help you're gonna be, shortie."

Already ticked off and high strung, Hiei bared his teeth and snapped. "As if you're going to be any more _helpful._ What can you even do now? Can you fight against the demons that fall beyond Koenma's pathetic little power ranking chart? The strongest thing you've _ever_ faced was Sensui, and he's old news. You're outclasses on this mission and you'll only be a _liability._ You should return back home before you get yourself _killed."_

The lumbering redhead snatched him by his collar. Hiei didn't feel the need to jump away from his petty threat.

"Tell me that to my face, you little dirtwad."

"I just did."

"Enough." Kagome said, head cool as she pushed the two apart, trying to divert their attention. "You are both here because you two are the only ones right for the job. I need you to stay focused and work together." She cast Hiei a sort of sidelong, _matronizing_ look. "Hiei, I get it. The two of you haven't fought side by side in a long time. But Kazuma hasn't been slacking off since you've been in Makai. Give him a chance, he'll surprise you."

Hiei scoffed. "We've never fought _side by side._ "

Crossing his arms, Kuwabara countered. "You _just_ brought up the fight with Sensui. What was that then, huh? There was a _ton_ of side by side battle action goin' on there!"

"That doesn't count." The shorter demon snipped. "That was a battle _royale."_

"Stop kiddin' yourself! I've read that comic and that's not how battle royales work. We had each other's back, and we would have kicked Sensui's butt, too, if Yusuke hadn't shown up."

"We are obviously thinking of two _very_ different fights."

Taking a sharp inhalation like the parental authority figure she'd been for the past five hundred years Kagome primed herself for scolding. " _Chil—!"_ She started before Hiei cut her off, turning to her quicker than a frog catching a fly.

His eyes burned with red hot fury.

"You dare call me a _child_ and I will leave to find Yukina on my own. It isn't as though I _need_ your help."

Still fresh in his mind was the fact that she had been the one to save his life from the river when he was an infant. What, did she expect a metal from him? _Gratitude?_ He squelched the thought along with the vile baggage that came with it. If she thought he _owed_ her something now that she'd let that slip, she had another thing coming. If anything, _she_ was the one who owed _him._

The woman had just _left_ him there.

Furious, Hiei snuffed that out that emotion too. He was not a child. He was most certainly not _her_ child _._ And a hot temper wasn't going do himany good with finding Yukina.

"Dude, you're so _touchy_." Kuwabara commented.

The Priestess raised her hands in surrender.

" _Men."_ She amended, and somehow the word felt like an even bigger insult to Hiei's pride. "We can bicker all we want later, but right now this is getting us nowhere. Kagami took Yukina to this location. We want to find her. That is our _only_ goal. Yusuke and the others are off distracting Kagami—they're sticking their necks out so that we can have a better chance at success. Don't let that go to waste because you two couldn't settle your differences and work together nicely for once."

Grimacing, Kuwabara looked away from them, his entire body tense. Hiei stared at the stupid castle turrets over her shoulder. He could have already infiltrated the compound and been done with it already if he hadn't been stuck _babysitting_. But that damn conniving Fox had done something to him. Mentally? Physically? He didn't know.

He couldn't find a reason why his feet were even planted on the ground in front of her.

But they were, and he still wasn't moving

"Hiei, you can't sense her." Kagome said, restating the fact that was tearing his patience into little confetti sized bits. Gesturing to herself she added. " _I_ can't sense her either. She's warded her too well." Then, she turned her full body to the Human mascot of their weird little group. "This is where we need you, Kazuma. You can tell us if Yukina is still here and where to find her."

She had to be kidding.

If _he_ couldn't sense past the wards, and the _Vixen_ couldn't sense past the wards—the same Kitsune women who was capable of sensing beyond the wards of his own _Jagan eye_ —then why in the ever loving world would she possibly think that the Human _buffoon_ would be capable of doing so?

Incredulous, Hiei scoffed. The sound gave away more humor than he had intended.

"Very funny Fox. You shouldn't give him such impossible tasks. It'll only make him feel more useless than he already is."

Affronted and bitter, Kuwabara yanked himself away from their huddle and turned to face the dilapidated castle. Hand rising out in front of himself, he closed his eyes in a mockery of concentration. As if that would aid him in the slightest.

"Step back shortie," He said, oozing with a confidence that made Hiei feel nauseous. "And watch a real man find the love of his life."

"This is _ridiculous."_

"Yeah." Kuwabara continued, ignoring the protests of the Fire Demon behind him. He looked back to meet Kagome's gaze with a tight and serious grin. "It's there. She's definitely here. The signal's a little twisty turvy, but she's upstairs. I swear my life on it."

Kagome nodded, accepting his word as the gospel truth.

"And you're just going to believe that?" Hiei grit his teeth. "We're just going to have _Kuwabara_ hold up his hand and _point_? Incredible. Why in the world are we waiting for _him_ to lead the way?"

Everything about that was insane.

The Priestess didn't even look down at him. She just smiled at the oaf. "I wanted to make sure she was actually here first before we wasted time running in blind."

"And what could he _possibly_ have that gives him an ability beyond the limitations of you and I?"

Kuwabara spun on his heels to raise his hand in the face of the much shorter man. He held out his little finger as if he were holding a dainty cup of tea or extending a promise between friends. Hiei refrained from smacking it away like he wanted to, but he did lean back in disgust. With an expression as proud as it was scathing the Human said, " _I_ have a pinky string of love connecting me to Yukina. Don't you _ever_ question the power of my love."

Hiei was stunned to silence by the sheer idiocy of the claim.

And then, as if he hadn't just claimed that there was a magical, invisible _string_ tied around his finger, Kuwabara started trudging towards the rotten doors of the castle entrance. Kagome followed. Hiei shot her a look as she passed. Flummoxed, he made a gesture towards the bobbing orange pompadour of the Human to get across a cynical question of Kagome's sanity.

She shrugged.

"It works. I'm not going to question it."

Stifling a growl, Hiei refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose where he was beginning to feel the onset of a headache. They hadn't even made it _inside_ yet and already he wanted to run his teammates through with a sword.

Once she'd gotten to where the litter from bandit encampments past was strewn about—bottles, bloodied scraps of cloth, Hiei even spotted the occasional used needle—Kagome glanced at him from over his shoulder. She'd suddenly grown serious. Her ears were upright and alert, her tail very still. She was ready for battle; ready to enact their half of the plan.

Good. _Finally._ So was he.

Nodding, Hiei flit upwards.

Pushing off from a tree branch mid leap, the agile little Youkai slipped into a shattered window on the building's third story. Stained glass snapped with a crystalline clatter and flew with him through the air when the hole wasn't quite wide enough. He rolled into a crouch in a hallway, just nearly missing a crater in the floor three more steps beyond. Scorching and claw marks of a creature long since dead had ripped away the roof there, leaving room for a tree to start growing up from the second floor.

Before the two below could crowd him on that little shrapnel covered ledge, Hiei leapt across to the other side of the hall, to a place where the stability of the structure seemed to be a little bit more reliable. A pretty pink portal appeared at his back the second his feet touched down, and he took an indifferent step to the side so that he wasn't right there when Kuwabara inevitably came barreling in.

Sure enough, the tall Human jumped through the portal first, flaming yellow spirit sword flailed threateningly in the air above him. More cautiously Kagome stepped through second, eyes studying her footfalls on the floor beams.

Infiltration successful.

A maneuver like that would have been helpful to have back at Maze castle.

"Talk about an easy invasion." Kuwabara huffed and put his sword away. The floor beneath his feet creaked against his weight. "There weren't even any guards at the front gate."

"This obviously isn't where he lives. It's just a convenient remote location to use."

"I don't think Kagami would have guards at his home, either. He's more of a loner."

"Well for a loner he's always packin' a lot of friends. I at least expected some of his worm things."

"The lesser demons."

"Hn."

There was that to consider. However, if everything went the way the Kitsune had predicted, they wouldn't be dealing with Kagami or his mindless horde of merry beasts.

They needed to be on the lookout for his puppet.

There was a _clink_ and shatter behind them as a shard of glass fell off the ledge of the hole in the floor and broke on the planks below. Like a spookable little deer, Kuwabara jumped at the sound and raised his fists, ready to fight.

"Kazuma." Kagome said quietly, but not quietly enough to be a whisper. "It's fine. Nobody's here."

"Right." He tried to chuckle, obviously embarrassed with himself.

She was right. There wasn't anything up there. Hiei slowed the beating of his own heart to listen. The loudest thing in that hall was Kuwabara, naturally, but beyond the priestess' slight exhalations there was nothing more. Neither sound nor sight of life. Not even a lizard crawling along the cool stone walls in the dingy hot light.

That couldn't have been right.

"You're wrong." Hiei stated adamantly. "Yukina is up here."

"Right." Kuwabara repeated quieter, reluctantly agreeing. He stared down at his pinky finger.

He didn't say anything more.

Were they… too late?

Not bothering to ask the Fox's permission, Hiei started down the length of the hallway, peering into the open or missing doors of each room as he passed. The doors that had miraculously remained upright and shut over the years were promptly kicked down. Kuwabara followed after and quickly joined suit, with Kagome trailing slower behind them. It was strange that she wasn't stopping them from making such a clatter in the enemy's territory. Kurama would have thrown a hissy fit. But then again, there wasn't exactly anything _normal_ about the Kitsune Miko.

At one point between empty rooms, Hiei stopped to get a quick look at the woman. She seemed to be completely transfixed in thought with her eyebrows pinched low and, unfortunately, the Apparition didn't need to be able to read her mind to figure out just what she was thinking.

Maybe this was only where Kagami had placed the wards on Yukina's power and aura before leaving her in another location. A location that they might never find.

Hiei wasn't a fool. He'd been on the opposite side of the coin long enough to know what a secondary location meant.

It meant the dumping of a body, not the holding of a prisoner.

" _No_." He said out loud. "She's here!" Fire engulfed Hiei's forearm at the raise of his voice and the next door that dared stand in his way was quickly turned to ash with his punch.

"Yukina!" Kuwabara called out down the hall, subtly long thrown out the window. "We're here! Don't worry, we're coming for you!"

"Wait." The Priestess said it so quietly that both of the detectives nearly missed it. "Wait." She said again, much louder, pulling back their attention. She was standing so still that the movement of her hair could have only been caused by a current of invisible power laced around her. When her eyes opened they were glowing blue and fierce. She'd been canvassing the building with that hidden aura of hers.

"There's magic in here."

"Where?!" Kuwabara demanded.

But Hiei was already sprinting further down the hallway. Kagome gave chase. Feet pounded against the old floors. They took a sharp left and Hiei let his third eye fly open. It pulsed with the purple taint of demon energy as he scanned the entire half of the castle that was still standing. _Nothing._ What was it she had sensed?!

A hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to an abrupt stop, and suddenly Hiei felt his power spike.

It was like she'd stuck him with the negative end of a jumper cable.

 _That's_ when he sensed it—the most innocuous of weaves, hidden tightly beneath runes and wards, but it was _there_.

Over his shoulder Hiei stared at the older Fox woman, the woman who had guaranteed his survival nearly two hundred years prior. She met his gaze with a hesitant one of her own and dropped her hand. The lack of contact felt like plunging into ice water, but he wasn't sure if that was from her powers or from a memory.

"Got it?" She asked.

Silently, wondering what the hell she had just done to him, Hiei nodded.

"Good. Let's go."

"Hey, wait up you guys!" Kuwabara called after them when they darted off again. "I've only got Human legs!"

Kagome slowed down for the man's sake, but Hiei offered no such handicap. With the sensation of power and a mental map fresh in his head, the Fire Demon disappeared in a flash of black. Down three more halls and to the right there was a stairwell. It was missing most of its steps, but Hiei didn't need _steps_ to be able to reach the top landing.

And there it was. A single protective ward was stuck to the wood of the door, etched over with an ancient spell that'd been recently carved into the grain by either a knife or claws. The power emanating from it was so slight he would have missed it completely.

They were in the right place.

She was there. She was _alive._

He knew by the frost creeping from beneath the crack of the doorframe.

Fire was summoned to him once more, only Hiei didn't need an entire forearm's worth of it, just a flicker in his palm was enough to catch the edge of the paper sutra. The spell snapped in a pop like a firework just as Kagome and Kuwabara rounded the corner.

In a feat of agility, Kuwabara bound up the steps, leapt over the missing gap, and rammed his shoulder into the door just as Hiei kicked it in. Kuwabara went stumbling into the room, sliding when his feet landed on a patch of ice. "Yukina!" He hollered as he slid.

With a bit more grace, the Forbidden Child sprang forward and drew forth his sword, scouring the round room for threat. The ice melted beneath the soles of his boots. His eyes landed on the single chair in the center of the large and otherwise empty space.

She was faced away from him, arms and legs bound. The spikes surrounding her grew outwards like the thorns of a crystal flower. The entire room had been transformed into a frozen tundra. Above her, a wooden chandelier had been thoroughly encased in ice, its candles snuffed out and their spilling wax frozen in time.

"Kuwabara?" The ice maiden's small voice spoke up from her seat, tired and timid. "Is it really you or is this another trick?"

The Human found purchase against the opposite wall and scrambled to his feet, excitement and relief evident in every fiber of his being. It was disgusting. "It's really me! Don't you worry, you're safe now. I wasn't going to rest until we got you home. We'll make that Shadow guy pay for what he did, I promise. But first we gotta get you outta here. We…"

Kuwabara moved forward to kneel before the girl he loved as if she were his queen.

Encasing her hands with his own, he scowled.

With a single slice of his blade, Hiei cut her bindings free from the chair.

Kagome strode surely into the room, past Hiei, and grabbed Kuwabara's large wrist just as he was helping the tiny young woman to her feet.

Kuwabara was forced to let one hand go.

"Miss Ka-Kagome." The girl stuttered and then she twisted to look around her. "And Mr. Hiei too." Her freed hand flew to her face to cover her mouth, moisture beginning to well in her eyes. "I'm so relieved. You've all come for me."

Much to Hiei's surprise, the Kitsune's face was stripped of all the warmth he'd expected from her. Once more becoming the warrior he'd fought in the Shrine courtyard, she stared down her nose at his sister in a way that made Hiei feel _quite_ threatened. In his hands his grip tightened on the tattered hilt of his sword.

"Who is your brother?" The Priestess didn't ask it; she _demanded_ it.

The question itself was a punch to his gut.

" _Fox_." He seethed in warning.

"Yukina." She repeated, not sparing him a look as she trained her cold blue stare. " _Who_ is your brother?"

"I… I don't know." The ice maiden answered meekly, shrinking under the taller woman's hard inspection. "I'm still searching for him. We haven't yet found any clues and I still do not know who he is." She tried to pull her other arm from Kuwabara's tightening grip. "What's going on? You're frightening me. Please, Kuwabara. It hurts."

Hiei looked at the human's huge hands digging white pivots in the Ice Maiden's delicate flesh. The brute's entire arm was shaking.

Still staring at that cursed pinky of his, Kuwabara's expression looked absolutely shattered.

"Yukina calls me _Kazuma."_ He whispered.

"You're not Yukina." Came Kagome's voice from somewhere far away, beyond the blood rushing in Hiei's ears.

"You _bastard."_ Kuwabara cursed under his breath so venomously, so laced with the silent chill of a grim reaper's scythe that Hiei knew he had to be hearing things. "Hiei. Kagome's right. This isn't—"

The thunder of an explosion erupted around them just as their captive Yukina turned to face him, her eyes wide with very real fear. The ice in the room shattered. From the turret's curved bay of broken windows spewed an army of mindless lesser demons. From behind them too, from the door. Their collective screeches sounded like the pits of hell. The miasma seeping from their pores was thick and suffocating.

Kagome collapsed to her knees, holding her head against some unseen pain, a ring of blue fire encircling her.

Kuwabara dropped Yukina's arm to form his sword.

It all happened so quickly. He was the fastest of them all, and yet Hiei found himself completely incapable of movement. He was filled with an unfathomable horror as his sister stepped past the Kitsune writhing on the ground, towards him. She was so perfectly Yukina down to every last movement, every strand of perfectly tousled hair. The porcelain of her skin, the crystalline jewels of her matching red eyes. Her aura, her _scent_. What they were claiming didn't make _sense_ to Hiei. His third eye assured him that they were wrong, that she was Yukina, that he needed to _protect_ the delicate girl before him.

His pupils shrinking to pinpricks, Yukina started to reach forward to cup his face.

He'd heard the others' accounts on the shadow demon's replication of Kurama's form, but there was no feasible way it was that _perfect_. There had to have been a seam somewhere. A telltale sign. No. That _was_ Yukina. And she was about to be in the heart of a battle—she was in _danger._

He needed to get her out of there.

Then he would murder every other living beast in that blood forsaken castle.

" _Hiei!"_ Kuwabara shouted.

The Ice Maiden stilled, fingers just shy of grazing his face.

Hiei tore his eyes away from hers to stare at Kagome in disbelief.

She'd broken free from whatever spell she'd been put on and was wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. In her other outstretched hand was a blinding glow of purple energy. Wild yet refined. Strong and blinding against his Jagan. The swarming lesser demons didn't dare get close. They cried, howled, and snarled, but not a single one of them moved forward.

They filled the perimeter of the entire room.

"A fire illusion. Did you learn that one from Shippo? As much as I _love_ reliving the day of Hansha's death, that's something I can do without your help." Her hand closed into a fist and she twisted it upright as if she were holding a rod. Then the bloody fingers of her right plucked an invisible string from the air and pulled it back to her cheek. The energy took the form of a flaming bow. "Tell us where the real Yukina is or I will shoot you in the back right now."

The perfect, frightened little woman in front of him closed her eyes. And then, much to Hiei's absolute disbelief, she smiled. It was a wicked and twisted thing on the mouth of such a pure soul.

There was something fundamentally wrong with the universe in that moment.

Leaping backwards as far away from the Ice Maiden as he could without slamming his back into the wall of demons that had formed a barrier behind him, Hiei diverted his anger to that writing mass. With a single slash of his blade fifteen of the grotesque creatures fell, cut clean in half, yet still none made to attack. Fifteen more replaced the dead. On the opposite end of the room, Kuwabara had stopped doing that very same futile thing to watch the confrontation between Kagome and Yukina.

He was trembling.

Disgusted with himself, Hiei realized that he was as well.

The Fire Demon found himself pointing his sword in Kagome's direction. "She's being _controlled_!" He barked, _begging_ it to be true. Control he could accept. Control he could _fight_ against.

"That's _not_ Yukina!" Kagome and Kuwabara shouted back at him simultaneously.

Stepping forward, Kuwabara shoved his _fucking finger_ in the air again. "She's _here_. But _that. Isn't. Her."_

Hiei staggered. He didn't know _what_ to believe. His teammates? His own _senses?_ What the hell was _wrong_ with him!?

Metal clattered to stone as his sword fell to the ground at his feet.

A laugh came from Yukina's small frame, rougher than it should have been. "I didn't realize how quickly your friends would betray you, Kagome. All for what? A single girl? Doesn't this feel _familiar?_ "

Flames black as soot lit in Hiei's hands. He stared down at them as the fire quickly engulfed both of his forearms. Then he sprang forward.

Betrayal?

The fool had no idea who he was messing with.

"You _bastard!"_ Hiei shouted as a battle cry.

The Kagemono caught his burning fist before it could tear a hole through the petite chest of the maiden, ice shielding her hand from the flame. It slid them far back across the floor. As soon as the ice was melted by the heat it was replaced with more. More. _More._ The stiff frost threatened to consume his entire arm. Beneath his skin, the dragon shifted, pulled, _demanded_ to be set free to incinerate the threat.

But he couldn't release it. Not in such a small space. To release the dragon would be certain suicide.

 _Hiei_ would survive it. He didn't have much doubt about that. And the _Kitsune_ was smart enough to evade it. The Human oaf, though? Hiei knew that if they returned to the Human world with the crispy husk of Kuwabara he would certainly have to face down Yusuke in a battle to the death. _That_ was the suicidal bit that he wanted to avoid.

Not to mention his sister—his _real sister, wherever the hell she was—_ actually _liked_ the son of a bitch for some ludicrous reason.

She could also be in the crossfire without him even knowing.

And hurting Yukina was something that he vowed he would never do.

" _Kuwabara!"_ Hiei yelled to get the lummock's attention.

"Right!" The carrot top shouted back before rushing them, sword held high. "Spirit Sword!" He aimed at the girl. He came _so_ close.

So _damn_ close.

Yukina turned to him with a gasp.

And just like that, the crackling yellow of Kuwabara's electric spiritual energy evaporated. His knees took a beating when he dropped to the floor.

"I… I can't do it." He explained, voice trembling. "I _know_ it isn't her! I just…"

Annoyingly enough, Hiei couldn't blame him.

Yukina shifted her foot. Ice chased out from beneath her like a wave, crashing around Kuwabara's legs to hold him captive. He made a sound of distress before he started shouting, as if obscenities were going to clear the prison away.

Had the true power of an Ice Maiden always been so immense and intimidating?

Was that what Yukina was _capable_ of?

Or were they simply too caught off guard because it was Yukina's face pulling the trigger?

Just then a shocking bolt of hot-bright purple light streaked between Hiei and the Shadow Beast, nearly missing his nose.

"Watch where you're _aiming_ woman!" Hiei bit out. He knew that Kagome was more than capable of making her power invisible. Was it for his benefit that she was lit up, or was it for intimidation?

The Fox ignored him. "Your fight is with me, Kagami! Not them!"

"It's as if you don't even know me, Kagome." Yukina's smile grew cocky as she pinned down Hiei's second fist. "Has it really been so long? No, my fight is not with them. I'd prefer not to harm anyone undeserving, but you keep _insisting_ on putting them in my way. I can't help it if they're in my way. _Him_ on the other hand... You and I both know why _he_ needs to die."

Eyes narrowing, Hiei shot a glance at Kagome.

Again, she avoided looking at him.

 _He who?_

Him as in Hiei? He had no qualms with any Shadow Beasts before that week. No, the insinuation in the word said it had to be someone else. 

Yukina laughed; the sound normally as pure as a wind chime on a winter's day came out tainted with a husky mockery. "I see now! You haven't told them! Oh, isn't it _fantastic_ when things come full circle?"

"Would you just talk straight like normal people?!" Kuwabara demanded. He'd wiggled an arm free and started chipping away at his ice cocoon with a little spirit dagger. "All these riddles give me a headache! Just tell us where the hell you put Yukina!"

Hiei hadn't even realized that the ice from her palms had crept down his torso and around his calves until the Kagemono stepped away, leaving him frozen midair. The fool shouldn't have stopped. Shouldn't have let up on her— _his—_ barrage of power. Didn't he know that it was only a matter of seconds until Hiei's burning aura made the ice brittle enough to crack?

"She's safe." Kagami told Kagome instead of addressing Kuwabara. "I haven't harmed a single hair on her head. I'm not the monster in this. We both know that, don't we? What happened with the Wolf was a shame, but that was your fault. And this? How else was I going to get your attention? How else was I going to get you to stop _dicking around_ and face me with your _full power_? I won't have you _coddle_ me, Kagome. I'm not a child under your wing any longer. I will face you and prove to you that I am _worthy_ of my revenge! Once, that is, you stop trembling. Is that fear? _Please_ tell me that's fear. The nose of an Ice Maiden is _really_ not the best."

It was slight, but the Priestess really was shaking. Hiei couldn't tell with what emotion, she'd left her face blank and as cold as the ice that surrounded them. Each one of her controlled breaths came out in small puffs of frigid condensation.

" _Kagome."_ He demanded her attention. " _Shoot him."_

"Oh yes, please do that." The evil Yukina clone chortled. "Shoot me with your arrow. And when I dodge, it will land in the chest of your spiky haired friend behind me. Wouldn't it be wonderfully coincidental if you shot him through the _heart?"_

"You got mouthy, Kagami." Kagome said, trying to remain impassive. It would have been convincing, too, if the ever loving fury of the underworld wasn't dancing within the flaming mass of her aura. Kagami must have stepped on one nerve too many. "When did that happen?"

The Shadow Beast shrugged before taking a few steps forward. "Shortly after discovering that I truly am the last of my kind, I suppose. You've done Makai a great service for that." He began to clap, Yukina's hands making the tiniest of noises. "Good on you, we truly were the scurge of the demon races."

For the briefest of moments Kagome flicked her eyes to Hiei. There was a spark in them, the spark of a plan. She was stalling for time. That stupid, _crazy_ Fox. She was brilliant. There. He admitted it. He nodded in understanding, feeling the ice beneath him growing weaker and weaker.

"Just shoot him already!" Kuwabara yelled from behind Kagome's back. "So what if he dodges! Hiei's always been kind of an asshole anyway."

 _Idiot._ Hiei fought back a growl. He was going to give them away!

But… no wait. That was exactly what they needed.

Kuwabara shot him a grimace. Perhaps the fool wasn't so much of a fool after all.

If was dramatics Kagami wanted, they could certainly oblige.

He countered the orange haired Human with a glare.

"We're supposed to be on the same _side_." The fire apparition barked. "Or did you forget? Is the cold killing off what little brain cells you have left?"

"How can we be so sure yer still on _our_ side!? He touched you! I saw it! Hiei's under the Shadow guy's control now, Kagome! We can't trust him! Shoot him!"

"Don't shoot _me_ , you ruddy Vixen! Shoot _Kagami!"_

Amusement crossed Yukina's darkened features. 

" _Enough!"_ Kagome snapped, the echo of her yell being absorbed by the fleshy wall of the demons surrounding them. The bow in her hands made an electric crackle when she straightened it again to fix on the Shadow Beast and her fiery companion behind him. She took in a shaky breath before whispering, "I'm sorry Hiei. But I have to try."

In a mass of gathered power, her arrow flew loose.

Kagami leapt from the path of the incoming blast. It was in that same split second that Hiei ripped free from the ice binding him. Dashing forward, he grabbed a hold of Yukina's ankle, hellfire still burning in his palms. Kagome's attack took out the better half of the wall behind them, demon minions included. Yukina screeched in agony.

Few things were capable of ripping Hiei's still beating heart from his chest and puncturing it with ten thousand needles. That noise was one of them.

 _She isn't Yukina,_ the black clad demon needed to remind himself.

Still, he couldn't endure the sound very long.

He was forced to let go.

"You dirty little _urchin!"_ Ice MaidenKagami cursed once there was some distance between them.

 _Heh._

Hiei had been called worse.

But… never by the likeness of his own sister.

"Take off that face. You look ridiculous."

Her lips quirked at that.

Sensually, the Ice Demoness grazed her hands up the curves of her body, hidden by her disheveled kimono. Stopping at her neck, she batted her eyelashes.

"Does this disturb you, Mr. Hiei?" She asked, voice small and timid.

Fucking hell, _yes. Yes_ it disturbed him.

He suppressed his shudder of revolution and did a fantastic job of keeping a cold face.

"Change out of her body, you sicko! We can't fight you seriously with you lookin' like that!" Kuwabara piped up, almost perfectly replicating Hiei's own thoughts.

Without warning, Kagome loosed another arrow, and then another in quick succession. With the dexterity of a cat, the Yukina clone avoided each one. Hole by gaping hole, the stone of the walls were blown clear away. The Priestess was going to bring down the turret _roof_ if she kept that up.

Looking around at the vile smelling lesser monsters that still haven't been given the command to attack, Hiei wondered if that was the very intention.

Kuwabara had nearly chipped himself free. Just one more leg to go. But Kagami and Kagome's little game of cat and mouse was heading straight towards him.

Hiei signed.

He was going to have to save the buffoon, wasn't he?

Hoping he wouldn't soon come to regret the decision, the Fire Demon made a mad dash for the other side of the room. He snatched up his trusty blade from the ground. "Kuwabara!" He bellowed. Hoping to flip a light bulb in the dark, he started to say the catchphrases of one of Human's favorite tricks. "Spirit Sword _get_ …!"

The redhead's eyes widened with realization. Then he grinned like a rabid dog.

"Spirit Sword, get longer!" He shouted, aiming for the ground.

The force of the energy pried him free from the ice and pole vaulted him high into the air. Hiei jumped up to join him. Side by side the two raised their swords against the cornered Shadow Beast, screaming in tandem as they made their decent.

They would have had him too, if the slippery bastard hadn't opened a portal at the very last second before they hit the ground.

Just before her next arrow could be loosed to hit the two boys, Kagome dropped the Spirit Bow. The power dissipated in the air, leaving behind the crisp stench of purity. She spun, quick on her heels when their target reappeared behind her. Raising both hands, she let out a concentrated pulse of demonic energy that shook the entire structure of the castle.

Again, Kagami slipped through space to avoid the attack like a snake.

It brought down in the last major supporting wall of the room, leaving only a thin frame.

"Stop doing that and let us hit you!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Jump!" Hiei warned when a huge slab of stone from the roof above them fell from its rafters. Kuwabara complied without protest and jumped clear out of the way. Dust filled the air, grey like the castle walls and thick like a desert storm.

"That was quite the impressive show of—" Whatever the Kagemono was about to praise them on was cut off short when he winced. The Ice Maiden raised a hand to her temple and scowled. Hiei couldn't help but notice that the sick fucker was favoring his _injured_ leg.

What the hell was wrong with that demon?

"I knew I should have used the taller one. A mistake on my part. But so _soon?"_ Kagami muttered under Yukina'sbreath. He looked disturbed. Then, almost as if forgetting that they were in the room with him, Kagami turned back to Kagome with a startled expression. He offered her an almost _regretful_ smile, if he was even capable of such a thing.

"As much as I would enjoy finishing this here, I have other, _equally_ important matters to attend to. We all have to make choices. You understand. I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

The Kagemono split one more rift in the fabric of reality.

"No, Kagami, wait!" Kagome called after Yukina's doppelganger, but she was already gone. Through the portal to some far off location. The priestess pulled her hair, ears pinned to her head. "Damn it!"

"What the heck!?" Kuwabara cursed. "That's it!? He's _gone!? Just like that!?"_

"Where the _hell_ did he go?" Hiei demanded in a tone of voice capable cleanly slicing through ballistics proof glass.

The Kitsune swallowed. Tail tightly wrapped around her thigh, she didn't turn to look at them.

"He's gone after Yusuke's team."

"And exactly _why_ would he do _that?"_ Hiei didn't hid the accusation in his voice. There was something she'd kept from them. Something potentially dangerous.

"We've got to go after him! He's still Yukina, right? Can't you follow him? Follow her aura?"

"Potentially? Yes. But we're not going to."

She looked around them at the mass of lesser demons that only continued to grow despite the many they'd already killed. They filled in the spaces of in the walls, blocking out the Makai sunlight. What few stones that still held up the precarious roof shifted under their movement, sending hunks of rock and wooden supports down to the floor. Soon the entire roof would follow, causing an unpredictable chain reaction of damage to the already unstable building.

Kagome stepped back until she bumped into the shoulders of Hiei and Kuwabara at the center of the room.

Their door back down the steps was blocked.

"Yusuke and the others are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves." She said decidedly, giving the men no room for their input. "Right now we need to worry about ourselves and Yukina. She's still here. We just need to find her. Before _they_ do."

Taking that as their cue, the hoard surrounding them sprang forward and attacked.

══ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ══

 **Chapter Twelve: End**


	13. Winter's Search (Part Three)

**(Trigger Warning: Explosion Insensitivity. I don't usually put warnings, but this one feels as if it would be completely inappropriate if I didn't. These scenes have been planned out and half-written for months, and it is simply a terrible coincidence that I happened to finish it right now, after the KyoAni fire [07/18/2019]. More on that at the bottom.)**

 **Chapter Eleven: Winter's Search (Part Three)**

 **Somewhere in the Forest of Fools**

They had her backed into a corner.

Nope, shitty metaphor. Idiom? Didn't matter, it still sucked because they were on a floating goddamn _island_ that didn't _have_ any corners. Point was that their Ice Maiden enemy was down to the last of her HP points and nearly ready to conk out to wonderland.

Good, because he was fucking _freezing._

Ignoring the sting of the scrapes down his arms, Yusuke paused to catch his breath at the far end of their ice laden battle platform. Her every major attack had added thickness to the permafrost until it was a literal ice skating rink. That would have been a serious problem if Kurama hadn't come up with the oddly genius idea of sticking super these sharp burs to the rubber soles of their shoes, turning them into burly winter cleats. But _anyway._ While that little road hazard managed to slow the two detectives down, it only seemed to speed the demoness _up._ She was like a figure skater completely at ease gliding along her element.

Yusuke gave her set a seven out of ten—points deducted for murderous intent.

 _Toru_ didn't have to deal with any of that, though, because _Toru_ had friggin bird wings and didn't even need to touch the _ground_. Lousy cheater. To be fair, that was the main reason why they'd been able to get the upper hand so quickly in the first place, since the Ice Maiden's power was limited to that which she could touch and thankfully for all of them and their lungs, air wasn't solid.

She was strong—arguably equally as strong as the puppet master had been—and their fight had the potential to drag out the same way his and Hiei's had, but three against one gave them hella better odds than two against one. When she tried to attack, Yusuke was there with his Spirit Gun to fight head on. When she tried to retreat, Kurama was there to block her exits, always one step ahead. And when she built up icy fortifications, Toru had been the one to knock them down, energy lacing the gusts from his wings like razorblades.

They just needed to keep that up a little bit longer until they could get close enough to knock her out, then they would tie her up in a neat little bow to give to Kagome. Alive and kicking.

Across the way, Kurama ran parallel to the demoness, his steps more nimble and quick than Yusuke had ever seen them in his redheaded form. He used the ice to his advantage by grabbing the trunk of a tree and sliding around it when the crafty woman spontaneously changed directions. A leap put him in the branches where the Fox hand the high ground. Yusuke didn't even see the moment when he had formed a second whip, but the Mazoku cheered when his partner caught an arm with each.

Pulled to a stop by thorns gouging into the flesh of her forearms, the Ice Maiden screamed. She dropped her rapier.

"Reel her in, Kurama!" Yusuke yelled from his resting spot. "Hey, Bird brain, do the thing!"

The Kitsune switched his vines over to one hand, twisted them around his fingers for a stronger grip, and yanked the demoness off her feet and into the air before she could freeze and shatter her bindings as she'd already done twice before. The Hawk was a shadow high in the misty clouds, but drawing nearer with every passing moment. Just before ramming into the Koorime, his wings sprang open to stop his fall. Light sparked as power swelled around him. The strong downward thrust of the bird's huge wings hit the woman with a blast of razor charged wind that slammed her into the ground below.

Her body made a pretty little crater in the ice.

" _Hell_ yeah!" Yusuke pumped his fist in the air. "Someone start the ten count, because she is _down!"_

Just as Yusuke was about jog across the field to check on their quarry and make sure that they hadn't actually offed her by mistake, a rift opened at his side.

"What the f—?" He jumped as a familiar girl fell through it, scuffed up and tousled.

The half demon caught her before Yukina could hit the ground.

He stiffened.

"Guys, I think we've got company."

The portal that sprang closed behind her was different. It wasn't the shimmering Barbie-girl pink thing that Kagome used. It was more like a jagged tear in reality, its edges scorched with black. Yusuke stared at where it had been before turning to the petite young girl in his arms.

Abruptly, he dropped her.

At his feet Yukina grinned. There was all sorts of crazy going on in that grin. She looked up at him.

Yusuke took a step back and added, "Yeah, we've _definitely_ got company."

On the other side of the clearing a burst of frigidly cold energy erupted from the crater the Ice Maiden had made. The rejuvenated aura washed over them like cold water—like walking into a corporate office building in the middle of winter but the air conditioner was still blowing full blast because the CEO was a hot-blooded dick.

Hot damn he was cold.

In front of him Yukina rose to her feet and brushed the dirt from her kimono. What had been disheveled was now crisp and clean. She leveled him with a look of disappointment.

"You are the opposite of chivalrous. At the very least you could have _hoped_ that I was the real girl like the others had. Kagome I did not expect to fool, but how did _you_ see through so quickly? This disguise is flawless."

"I didn't." Yusuke said bluntly before raising his finger. "You just told me. You must be Kagami, then. Pleasure to finally meet you, asshole."

Kagami smirked with his dainty lady mouth. "The pleasure is all mine, _Mazoku."_

The Ice Maiden's player two has entered the fight.

Second round, start.

Yusuke let his gathered Spirit energy fly.

A fist came out of left field, clocking the Kagemono disguised as Yukina in the jaw and knocking her out of the blast's path. Caught off guard, the petite woman slid to a stop and touched the side of her face.

"What the hell was that, dipshit? I _had_ him!" Yusuke enunciated very precisely as he shoved the shoulder of the Hawk that had landed in front of him. Toru didn't budge.

Kagami started at Toru.

Toru stared back.

A shout from the other end of the ice arena reminded Yusuke that their other opponent had gotten her second wind the moment Kagami showed up—her power boosted from the close proximity of her puppet master. Somewhere between the trees and the clouds, Kurama was fighting her. Alone.

A female shrieked.

Yusuke let out a breath. If there was anybody he could trust to hold their own, it was Kurama.

"So this is your decision?" Kagami asked in Yukina's voice. "You're going to protect them?"

"I don't want to fight you, Kagami." The Bird responded quietly.

The Spirit Detective huffed. "That didn't stop you from attacking like a moron earlier, when you thought the other chick was _him._ You seemed pretty gung-ho about fighting. _"_

Taller than Kuwabara and four Yusukes wide, the wings on Toru's back ruffled in distress.

"I was _angry_." He explained, not turning away from the blue clad girl. "You _left_ us."

" _Me?"_ It was strange seeing Yukina's face twist in anger like that. " _You_ were the one who left _me._ I expected you to _follow. None_ of you _followed_."

"We searched for you for _years_!"

"The two are not the same!"

"Come back home. Kagami." There was gentleness in Toru's words that totally threw Yusuke off balance. Damn near pleading. "Please. We can make things right."

The Tori stepped closer to the Shadow Beast, but Yukina's form stepped back as if the claws on his outstretched hand were tipped with poison. She started at him, incredulous. Her form shifted. It was like watching water mold into putty. Blink once and you missed it completely. She became Kurama, dressed in orange corduroys and a cable knit sweater. Then again to the mahogany skinned puppet master in a strange sort of Demon World tunic. For a split second he grew to a taller man in a black hoodie before shrinking back into Kurama's human form.

The false Kurama growled.

"I'm _making_ things right." He said. When his gaze shifted to look at Yusuke, his eyes darkened with hatred, raw and spiteful. "The way it should have been from the very beginning."

"Hey, man, if you've got some sort of problem with me, then come over here and _fight me!_ There'll be time to chat with your boyfriend after I've pummeled your _ass_ into the ground!"

A burst of power interrupted them. It shook the earth at their feet.

Next thing Yusuke knew there was a massive wave of needle-like icicles making its way across the southern portion of the island. The trees in its past leaned forward, stretched wide, to push it back, but there was simply not enough life in them. They snapped like brittle twigs beneath the raining torrent of ice.

It was coming towards them, Yusuke realized.

"Dodge!" He screamed as he ran to avoid being impaled by the edge of the roaring tsunami.

Toru lunged at Kagami.

Kurama was nowhere to be seen.

Yusuke heard him scream.

Even though the land was flat, the world was loud with the sounds of a mountain avalanche.

When the noise calmed into the creaking of something very heavy settling into position, Yusuke pulled himself up off from the ground from where he'd been thrown. He coughed, stumbling to his feet. "Kurama?" He called out before the dust and snow had completely cleared. " _Kurama_!?"

The little light that managed to penetrate the haze caught the silhouette of a figure standing high above him. They were on the top of a newly formed ice hill, he realized.

"Kurama!"

Only it wasn't Kurama.

The figure belonged to the Ice Maiden.

She leaned forward, peering over the end of the world to the clouds beneath them. Her attack had pushed them to the very edge of the island. The flow of her ice spilled over like a waterfall frozen in time. Satisfied with her inspection, the demoness turned to the Detective.

"What the hell have you done?" Yusuke demanded, refusing to let the panic sink in.

Cackling like the wicked witch she was, the otherwise voiceless Koorime took a step in his direction.

Then she froze.

When she looked down, there was a green vine wrapped tightly around her ankle.

It pulled over the edge without warning, into the unknown below.

 _Kurama_ had pulled her over the edge with him.

Yusuke fell to his knees and shouted into the empty white.

" _Kurama!"_

"My deepest condolences." Kurama's voice said from over his shoulder.

Yusuke's breath caught. His blood ran cold.

"It is painful when someone so close to you dies. But now I get to fight you face to face. This is good timing."

"He's not _dead,_ you bastard." The Detective growled through clenched teeth. When he pushed off the ground to raise to his feet once more the ice cracked in a spider's web around him. Fists knuckle white at his sides, he turned around to see the false Kurama standing in the middle of the field, hair tossing in the wind and expression neutral. "You obviously don't know anything about Kurama. He's too _smart_ to die. If _you_ were smart, you'd do your fancy little magic trick and transform into someone else, because you looking like that is _really_ starting to piss me off." Gripping the wrist of his shooting hand, Yusuke leveled his pointer finger. The tip of it began to glow an angry, demonic red. "And pissing me off is a pretty _stupid_ thing to do."

The Kitsune grinned. Yusuke stood as still and severe as death itself as the Shadow Beast opened a portal behind his own back and embraced the darkness within it with a trust-fall. Muscles taught, he didn't move when the silence fell around him, didn't shoot off his blast as the portal _blipped_ closed.

He didn't even flinch when he felt the familiar hands of his friend as they wrapped around his neck.

Where the hell was Toru?

"Do it." Yusuke goaded. "Steal my body, my _powers_. I won't stop you. Hell, I'll even give you time to power up. I've got no problem kicking my own ass."

Blunt fingernails dug into his windpipe. Kurama's aura grew stronger until the air was thick from the pressure. Hands trembled.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Go on." Yusuke smirked despite the petechiae starting to dot his cheeks. In his current state of mind, the half demon felt none of it. He took in a haggard breath. "You've got no clue what it's like being me."

At that the Kagemono's grip tightened. Then he released.

"You have no idea…" Kurama's voice whispered eerily close to the Mazoku's ear. "…how much I want that."

Yusuke spun around to land a punch but he was gone.

"It should have been me. I should have been the one to kill him." The words were spoken over by the ice mound. "But it was you."

"What, have you got leaves in your ears? Nobody _killed_ Kurama!"

Kagami stalked around in a wide circle. "I was going to wait to find you, but after I learned that you had allied yourself with _her—_ with _Kagome_ , of all the demons in the realm…" The Shadow Beast shot him a cocky grin. "I just couldn't help myself. You've all made this so easy for me, by coming together. Now all the dues owed to me can be paid off at once."

"You sure like to hear yourself talk, don't you? Well how about you take your batty monologue and shove it up your—Wait, wait, wait. _I_ don't owe you _shit_." Yusuke waved his hands, realizing something. "You don't think—You think _I_ killed someone? You think I killed your mark, is that it? That's just rich. Well, who was it? Kagome killed your girlfriend—I _get_ that. But _me? Really?_ Who could I possibly have killed to get you so tight up about fighting _me?_ One of the sorry saps from an old assignment? A lizard, maybe? I can see the familial resemblance there. Oh come on, don't leave me hanging here! At least let me know who I'm being blamed for!"

Fake Kurama started at him, incredulous. "Isn't it obvious?"

" _No,_ Mighty-morph, it _isn't._ You're about as transparent as a politician. So enlighten me. Who the fuck did _I_ kill?"

"The man who gave you your strength." The Kagemono said. Wind started to whip around him as his fury rose. "The demon who could have prevented all of this; who could have made things _different._ The one with the potential to be the most powerful of us all. The start of the end. The _Mazoku_. The one who was supposed to be _mine! Raizen!"_

Yusuke balked. " _Raizen_?! I didn't _kill_ Raizen! He jumped on his _own_ sword!"

"Were you not there when it happened? Were you not _actively_ trying to bring about his death?!"

"Shut up!"

Kagami transformed again, this time turning into one of the many monks who'd followed the late great king of Makai. "Didn't you instigate the final fights that brought him over the edge?"

"I said _shut up!_ "

Power exploded from the Detective's hand, sending a barrage of shotgun bullets spraying across the frozen field. Transforming back into the more agile form of the Kitsune, Kagami leapt towards him, whip forming. A blast tore into his shoulder. Another drew blood from his calf. But it was the handle of a small knife ebbed in his gut that brought the Kagemono to a stop.

The green of the thorny rose whip fell away to dust.

He stared at the hilt, then he touched it, hands coming away red with his own blood.

"Toru." Kagami pulled the black blade from Kurama's stomach and clutched at the wound. Shaking, he dropped it to the icy ground where it skidded with a clatter. "You hit me. With a _knife_."

"Stiletto." The Hawlk man corrected bitterly as he dropped down beside Yusuke, the half demon already primed for another shot. Toru pulled another blade from a strap on his thigh and flicked it open. "No one expects stilettos in a Youki battle."

"Hey _Gambino_ , you're _late_." Yusuke quipped.

"Sorry, I was too busy playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe."

"Is Kurama safe?"

"How should I know?"

"You mean you _didn't_ fly down to catch him!?"

Toru gave him a sideways look. "Why would I do that?"

" _Why_!? Oh I don't know, maybe because you can _fly!"_

"You said it yourself, he's smart _._ Kurama's a big boy; he can take care of himself."

Yusuke fumed. "When this is over, remind me to teach you the definition of _teamwork!"_

A feral noise brought their attention back to the bleeding Shadow Beast. He transformed into Yukina again but the form wasn't held long before he switched back to Kurama. The demon staggered forward. He stopped after only a couple steps, fixing his eyes on Yusuke.

"I should have been _you_." Kagami said to him, his voice dripping with accusation. He looked drained. Was that from the wound or from shifting so many times in one battle? It was impossible to tell.

"Yeah?" Yusuke spit back. "Well why the hell aren't you?"

═════ 犬夜叉 **X** 幽遊白書 ════

Falling.

He was falling from the small deserted island that they had been using as a battlefield. And was that blood? A droplet of red flew upwards into the sky before the full force of the pain struck him. There was a barb of ice run through his side, Kurama realized, his brain calculating the damage to his person faster than his falling velocity.

It was a clean wound, through and through. He would be fine, just as soon as he was no longer falling.

The island hadn't drifted too far above him; there was still time for a saving throw.

But first he needed to take care of the largest threat to his teammates.

Green eyes locked on his opponent. Her form was distinct against the cloaking backdrop of fog and ice as she turned away. The target was small, but it was just close enough.

He would only have one shot.

Focusing all of his strength into his right arm, Kurama cast his rose whip forward and with the accuracy of a seasoned fly fisherman he secured his prey. Sudden tension on the line nearly pulled the vine from his grip, but the Kitsune held strong. Only the weight of his own body was necessary to drag her along over the edge. The ice she'd been standing on was a slippery thing, she should have known better. As soon as she fell free into the open air, the Ice Maiden screamed.

Conjuring up his second whip, the Fox aimed for the underside of the floating island where the forest's bare roots dangled over the sky below. They twisted and tangled in a brush denser than the actual forest above, and catching hold of a solid one wasn't difficult. He swung down then up, following a pendulum curve of his vine until he was able to grab hold of the uppermost belly of the beast on the other side. The roots welcomed him like a hammock.

The hard part wasn't getting himself to safety, but rather dragging up the squirming Ice Maiden on the other end of his fishing line. She was wide eyed and panicked, nearly hyperventilating as he hauled her unceremoniously to somewhat solid ground.

"Don't let me fall." The woman whimpered when he finally got her close enough to grab, and he wondered if Kagami's hypnosis had been broken by the shock of the fall.

"I won't." Kurama promised, grabbing her hand, helping her.

As soon as she was safe in his hold, her eyes went blank.

He was wrong.

Kagami still had her.

The Ice Maiden grabbed the Kitsune's upper arms and dug deep into the muscle tissue. Frost spread from her skin to his. He bit back a gasp. Before he could restrain her, to stop the onslaught of shooting cold pain, she had already let go, dropping back down to the abyss below.

She'd served out her purpose to Kagami and was no longer useful.

Now, Kurama could have simply let her fall and declared their fight over. She'd been the one to let go, after all. Only she _hadn't._ The Shadow Beast was the puppet master pulling the strings behind her every action. She did not _choose_ to fall to her death of her own free will. It was not suicide. It was murder.

And if he stood by doing nothing he was just as much to blame as the Kagemono who cast her off.

She was an innocent and Kurama would _not_ have her death on his hands. He would not accept that guilt over the convenience of his own safety.

So, doing what any lunatic with a conscience would do, the Fox Demon let go from the safety rope and swan dove into the sky below him.

He promised that he wouldn't let her fall.

He was going to hold true to that promise.

Sometime between letting the roots slip from his fingers and grabbing the falling demoness in his arms, Kurama wondered if he would have ever considered doing such a thing before he'd been born as a human. The answer to that was not a simple _no_ , but more of a resounding _absolutely not._ His own life had always taken priority above anybody else's. But now? Now he was throwing himself off cliffs to save strangers just because it was the _right thing to do._

He caught her. A spark of static electricity bit him when he wrapped his arm around beneath her obi for a better hold, other hand crossing the skin of her neck to grasp her shoulder.

She would survive.

That brought him immense relief, even while they were racing towards the ground. Taking that leap meant that the shift in his morality had not simply been stitched into the lining of his human body—it had changed within his very soul. Losing that mortality did not mean this his humanity was forfeit; he wasn't going to go back to being a cold hearted bandit over night.

But perhaps that was the wrong thing to be worrying about at that moment.

A tingling sensation at the back of his next was the first indication that something was horribly wrong.

The Koorime in his arms moved against him, struggled for freedom, her face pressed against his neck. The scent of her skin, like the first frost in the fall, filled his nose. The touch of her flesh to his. The curve of her back. He gasped when the sensations began to overwhelm him. His grip tightened. Aura swelled.

Power rose inside his chest, demanding release.

He felt hot.

Before he could lose his ability to do so, Kurama sent a precise wisp of his energy to the specific seed he needed to activate that would save their lives from that southward tumble. Leaves exploded at his back, growing huge until they were the size of a hang glider. He'd used them once before in their fight against Sensui; the fronds of a demonic orchid that just so happened to resemble the tendrilled wings of a bird-butterfly. Red and white, the plant warned of poison and matched the two colors his hair had been with ironic cruelty.

His mind couldn't focus on much else until the two of them tumbled to the cold hard dirt of the ground below.

Shaken, Kurama rolled away from the body of the Ice Maiden, even as he yearned to draw nearer. She'd passed out just before impact.

That was probably for the best.

Blood rushed in his head. Electric red energy crackled across his skin when he couldn't press it back. He could feel the seeds hidden about his person as they began to sprout, roots searching for that power. Hungry. They needed more. _Urgent_.

He wasn't aware of his own yelp when he tore the ice stick from his side.

Blood painted the ground.

Vampiric vines slithered from his neck like leaches seeking the warm spot of wetness growing beneath his shirt. Panicked, he ripped them away.

A moan brought his attention back to the woman on the ground. His eyes widened. Kurama stared down at his hands before lurching up to his unstable feet.

He had to get away.

But there was nowhere to run. No getting away from the battle about to happen. The problem was _within_ him.

Still, so long as he stayed there that woman was in danger.

It was a struggle to get further into the dormant forest with his own plants threatening to take control. He felt the glamour of his human form flicker and fall as an aura-eating tillandsia found the end of the weave. When the Kitsune slumped against the trunk of a dead tree the bark of it warped and gnarled beneath his touch.

Branches reached toward him like the undead hands of skeletal ghouls.

Kurama pushed away and stumbled.

Deeper into the frozen woods he wandered, breathless but determined to win back command from an inner beast he hadn't had to placate in well over twenty years.

══════ With Reason ══════

"Guys, we gotta go! It's not gonna hold!" Kuwabara shouted over the sounds of fighting beasts and falling rubble. He sensed a huge chunk of ceiling stonework before it crashed down and he jumped back so that it could squish a pair of squirming nasties instead. He was doing a fantastic job slicing and dicing, but there seemed to be _no end_ to the lesser demon hoard. So he aimed for the doorway and cut a pathway through the blockage to feel like he was actually accomplishing something.

From the center of the room, Kagome gave a shout of agreement. The ground was already moving beneath their feet when a farther portion of the floor gave way to the story below. The Youkai, mindless as they were, didn't seem to care that their numbers were destroying the few supports that the room had left. A black blur zipped past Kuwabara-Hiei if he had to guess—and not long later Kagome joined him through the hole to the threshold that led to the already broken stairwell. She shot a blast of energy through the writing mass of claws and tentacles as she went, but still they just kept coming.

Did he mention that they were gross? Like rank gross. Their stench was probably going to linger in his hair for a couple days. But at that moment he had bigger worries, like the fact that the crawly, flying beasts were about to totally flood the castle and _Yukina was still inside somewhere._

Just then the turret room gave way; the roof collapsed from the far window first, crushing whatever lucky saps happened to be beneath it. It moved forward a rapid wave of destruction, pushing the hoard ever still closer to them and opening up the space to the demon filled sky beyond. The stairs lost another step. Dust joined the choking miasma in the air.

Kagome loosed another arrow. Kuwabara cleared the room above him with a radiant slash and jumped across the gap before the whole thing could cave. Hiei sliced the stragglers that managed to get past to the hallway.

The sound was deafening as the room went down. Cries of blood and carnage, thunderous stones. Still, the mass persisted. More from the outside. Some from below. The light of the sky had nearly been blackened by bodies. A wall in the stairwell fell, pushed in by toothy worms. Dirt fell on them from the unstable ceiling.

Now, Kuwabara wasn't an architect, but he'd been in a few collapsing buildings in his career and he played a mean game of dominoes. He was about to suggest that it'd be best for them to hightail it out of there when Kagome beat him to the quip.

"You two keep going and find "You two keep going and find Yukina before the entire place crumbles! I'll catch up. I can clear most of them, but not until you two are out of the backlash zone."

Hiei didn't stick around to ask questions; from the corner of his eye, Kuwabara saw the dark little apparition start off down a random hallway. Then, after a moment of tense hesitation, the human man decided to trust Kagome to do her thing while he focused on the more important part of the mission. He offered her a tight nod, which the Kitsune returned with a flick of her tail and a little nod of her own.

He ran off. A burst of light flared behind him, but he didn't turn to look at it. Kuwabara was focused.

Up ahead the hall came to a T. The little dot that was Hiei turned left without pause.

"She's not down that way!" His voice was rough and nearly drowned out by the ruckus. Kuwabara tried again, shouting louder as his feet pounded the stone. " _Other_ _way_!"

Hiei appeared when Kuwabara got to the end of the corridor and rounded the corner. The tiles of the floor behind him were beginning to give way. This time the Fire Demon didn't question the redhead's direction. Instead he gave a hissed curse and joined the taller man down the right hall.

There were scummy lesser demons even there, congesting the way and shrieking as the two detectives drew nearer. Hiei flit ahead in a flash. With a draw on his power that sent a black, putrid chill down Kuwabara's spine, the crazy blackberry ice cream half pint drew up an inky flame. He shot it down the way, incinerating everything in its path. Not for the first time, Kuwabara begrudgingly appreciated that Hiei was on _their_ side—especially when his attack left nothing behind but little black smudges on the walls and ceiling. They looked like evil cave paintings.

"This way!" Kuwabara pivoted and led them down another alcove that had a set of stairs leading to the door. It was nearly identical to the first, with a ward plastered to the wooden barrier.

Again, just like with the other, the magic of the sealing talisman popped beneath the touch of Hiei's heat.

With the grace of a tactical swat team, Hiei and Kuwabara kicked in the door and swarmed the room with weapons blazing. The very dilapidated, very _empty_ room. At the center there was another chair; its binds, already cut, lay encased in heaps of ice on the floor. Hiei walked over to kick one.

"She was here." He stated, as if Kuwabara wasn't able to feel the resonance of the Koorime's living essence that lingered in the place. The air was still sweet with winter's chill.

Something at one of the room's shattered windows caught the human's eye.

"Hey, take a look at this." He waved Hiei over so that the demon could also gander at the impressive ice structure clinging to the outer wall of the turret. "It's like some kinda _ladder."_

"She _escaped."_ Kuwabara honestly couldn't tell if Hiei was pissed or impressed—he really only seemed to have one setting, so Kuwabara was just going to assume pissed. Then it dawned on him what it actually was that pinched the Forbidden Child's face like that. It wasn't anger—it was _concern._

Freaky demon maggot concern, but concern nonetheless.

Just after identifying the foreign emotion, Kuwabara also realized _why_ Hiei was suddenly so concerned.

"So she's out _there_ somewhere. With _those things_." He didn't need to gesture to the sky to identify just which threatening _things_ he was referring to.

Suddenly a loud _boom_ shook the castle. Kuwabara stumbled to remain on his feet. From the window they saw the brilliant light of Kagome's power as it encompassed the western portion of the sky above. Moments later, as if rushing past them in a wave, the force of that energy rippled past them. _Time_ , it seemed, had trained the Black Fox to control her shock-wave and send it into a specific direction, but the recoil still nearly knocked like a blow to the stomach.

If they'd been any closer that could have really hurt without some sort of barrier.

Clay and mortar crumbled onto Kuwabara's hair. A stone fell between him and Hiei. They both stared at it briefly before looking back up to one another. Then, in an unspoken agreement, the two Spirit Detectives leapt in tandem out the shattered remains of the massive, arching window.

" _Yukina_!" Kuwabara shouted over the courtyard as he formed a long spirit sword and used it to slow himself into a tumble on the dead grass of the ground.

Hiei landed with the eerie grace of the devil's butterfly beside him and took off running the instant his boots hit dirt.

"She couldn't have gotten far!" Lunging into a spring, Kuwabara held his pinky finger high. He caught the pull. The feel of his red string wrapped a warm embrace around his soul. He wondered how he could have ever mistaken Kagami's artificial lure as the real deal. "Over there!" He shouted to invisible ears that were sure to hear him.

They came to a place in the gardens that, like the rest of the structure, was half finished and grossly overrun with dead and rambling vines. What looked like a fountain stood center, covered in branching cracks and filled with coagulated pools of what could have been old blood—Kuwabara cussed his overactive imagination and tried not to look at it too long. Further still, in a feature that might have been a statuary at one point but was now filled with a collection of shattered, screaming stones, was a floweret of sharp and pointy ice.

It wasn't nearly as large or as impressive as Kagami's display had been, but at the same time _this_ Yukina, the _real_ Yukina, barely had access to her powers. She was still _warded_.

Getting to the Ice Maiden first, Hiei disposed of the demons circling too far overhead for her to reach. There were more, Kuwabara realized, a _lot_ more, already dead and scattered in a perfect circle around her and her tiny defenses.

Again he shouted, this time with gusto. "Yukina!"

The glowing form of the short young demoness turned to face him; her eyes alit bright with white. "Kuwabara?" She breathed. "Mr. Hiei." The light faded. Whatever aura she had pulled from within herself snapped back to her core like the crack of a rubber band. She winced before the ice of her features broke into a soft smile. "Thank goodness." Yukina let out, and then she fell.

Hiei caught her before her knees could be scuffed by the ground. From her back he ripped a ward. The paper burnt to ashes, releasing her aura to wash over them like a beautiful and refreshing gust of January wind.

They _did it._

They found Yukina.

Kuwabara grinned, feeling tears welling in his eye holes. They were manly tears, well deserved manly tears. He didn't even care if the scrawny little fire punk saw that he was crying. _They found Yukina._

Behind him there was a sudden loud noise, and shortly after he could barely hear anything else over the cacophonous roar of the castle finally giving in to its damages. It collapsed in a torrent of wind and dust.

He didn't turn to watch it fall. Instead he padded his way over to Yukina, strutting his best badass impression as the destruction played out at his back. He was a knight in shining feathers, a peacock on a white steed, on high from the rescue of his princess. Yukina peeked up. She watched him with amusement, then, when her gaze drifted around his torso, the Koorime's red eyes widened.

"Kagome!" She yelled out, hefting her voice louder than Kuwabara had ever heard it. "The castle! It is a greater trap!"

It all happened at once. As Yukina was getting her warning out Kuwabara turned and slow motion snapped into effect. Kagome was back there, across the barren courtyard and looking disheveled as she walked from the ruins of the building. Just before the Maiden finished, there was a resounding blast that once more rocked the earth, only this one was deeper, _bigger._ This time there was _fire._ The Black Kitsune's reaction was instantaneous. She didn't have time to turn around to face the explosion, so she dropped to the ground where she stood, hands colliding with the soil as she raised up a barrier wall.

She was just barely fast enough.

Orange hot flames slammed against the invisible glass of her barrier and shot upwards, scorching the sky. The heat of it could still be felt and _damn was it hot!_ Even from where Kuwabara was standing as a human shield before Yukina and blocking his eyes, he could feel it.

He was going to have one hell of a nasty sunburn later.

When the blast subsided, nothing remained of the castle but white ash and bubbling red rock. The forest was wiped bare for some distance; only their little patch that Kagome saved still stood. Any of the lesser minion demons that had survived the collapse or were hiding out of bounds were probably dead now—very, _very_ dead. Not even crispy critter dead, they were _extinct_.

Fucking hell.

Kagami was insane.

Kuwabara let out a strangled, disbelieving laugh.

Kagome fell to her forearms.

From behind him, Yukina clambered out of Hiei's grasp. She ignored his protests and darted for the Priestess. "Kagome! You're injured!" She cried, alert and concerned as she placed herself in front of the older Demoness.

Pushing back up, Kagome gathered her breath and gave a quiet reassurance that she was fine, but even Kuwabara could see the flash of the hole that'd been burnt through her jacket. A lock of hair fell to the ground beside her. His feelings of relief and triumph suddenly tainted with worry, Kuwabara began to make his way over to the women. He slowed when he heard the Fox once more pose her question of identification to the Ice Maiden.

"Yukina. Who is your brother?"

The look in the Priestess' glowing blue eyes was scary intense, but unlike Kuwabara, Yukina did not falter.

Understanding the importance of the question, she gave her answer straight.

"Hiei is."

The human Spirit Detective froze in place. Then, in an abrupt about face, he turned to stare at Hiei. The wide-eyes look of absolute horror on the apparition's face would have been the funniest thing in the world, if it hadn't been tainted by Kuwabara's own shock.

 _They_ were—? _No._ It didn't make—! _Shit!_ Kuwabara cussed under his breath, because it _did_ make sense. It made every _lick_ of sense! Well, _duh._ No shit!? So, that _whole time—_

" _You knew?"_ Hiei let out, his breath far more incredulous.

Seriously, now that he was looking between the two, it was pretty obvious, Kuwabara thought. It was like super freaky,even. They had the same stature and jawlines. Heck, they even had the same darn _eye color_ for crying out loud! He'd never really thought about it like that before—red was probably a common color for demons, right? But no, this was a very specific shade of glittering crimson...

Yukina turned and gave Hiei a delicate nod. "I've known for a long time." She said.

At his sides Hiei's hands clenched white as if he were going to lash out, but Yukina didn't flinch. His entire body was tense, like super unhealthy tense with his knees locked and everything. Kuwabara watched as the blood drained from his face, leaving his usually tan face pale. He looked like death.

"Dude's gonna drop!" Kuwabara warned as he took a side step away from the apparition.

Sure enough, Hiei lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Yeah, Kuwabara probably could have caught him, but like… why? Hiei'd never done a single nice thing for the human and it was way funnier seeing the big tough shrimp eat dirt. He wasn't exactly a mighty timber, so he didn't make much of a sound; it was more of a little _thwup._

"Geeze," The gangly redhead said and went to stand over the heap of Hiei. His adrenaline was just beginning to simmer down, and with Yukina back to safe and sound he was beginning to feel humor again. "What a drama queen."

"He'll be alright." Kagome said as she dropped her barrier. It took Kuwabara a second to realize that she was reassuring Yukina and not him. "He's just over exerted himself."

Not physically, she didn't add but Kuwabara deduced. He hadn't used enough of his power for that. Hiei had burned himself out in a way that he had far less experience in—something more complex than simple combat fighting. The pompadoured young man couldn't help but snort. "I guess it pays to be in tune with my emotions, otherwise I'd probably be right down there with 'im. He shorted a fuse." Very used to being on Hiei duty, Kuwabara bent down to pull the tiny demon up and over his shoulder. He couldn't count how many times he'd had to carry the twerp back from a battle as if he were lugging a little brother back home after being beaten up on the playground.

 _A little brother…_

Oh.

Wait a minute.

The realization hit him a bit later than it should have and Kuwabara stood up quickly, his back straighter than a ramrod. Hiei almost fell off, but Kuwabara grabbed him.

Holy cheese on toast, he was in love with _Hiei's sister._

If he ever _married_ Yukina… that would make _Hiei_ his _…_

Bristled, Kuwabara shook away the goosepimpling thought and jogged over to the girls. Desperately he changed the subject, not that _they_ could hear what was going on in panicked circles in his head. "W-we're going after Kagami now, yeah?"

"Kazuma, your face is all red. Are you in pain?"

Kagome smiled at Yukina's inquiry before rising to her own feet and turning back to examine what no longer remained of the hideout. The state of her back was not a pretty sight. "No, I'm sending you three back home. Tuck Hiei in a safe place and recoup. I'll catch up to Yusuke and see how they're fairing on their front."

"But you're all…" He was going to say crispy, but she shrugged him off.

"It's superficial. It'll be gone by tomorrow. I'm the only one who can make the portal to get there and anywhere else if he happens to jump us. This is my mess to clean up. We should have someone at the temple to make sure nothing gets through when we all return to the human realm. I trust you to keep everyone there safe."

Kuwabara considered arguing, because he would have _really_ liked to clock Kagami in the face, but at the same time he _wanted_ to go back to the temple. He wanted to make sure that Yukina was two hundred and fifty percent okay. He wanted to not let her out of his sight until everything settled down. And he wanted to hold her hand and talk to her throughout the night.

As if reading his mind, the radiant young Ice Maiden extended her hand towards him. He grabbed it, his large paw threading her tiny fingers. She was warm. Then she pulled him down; he was putty in her grasp, dazed and amazed as she reeled his tall form to her level and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. "You should rest now. Your spirit was rather frayed in the excitement."

Her presence was a soothing balm. He flushed, helpless to resist.

"Okay, I'll go back. Kurama and Yusuke probably already have 'im beat, anyway." When he straightened back up, Kuwabara couldn't fully look Kagome in the eye. He fidgeted and straightened the unconscious Hiei. Wow. That was awkward. Good thing the little beastie didn't wake up there.

Kuwabara was a lot of big talk when it came to his relationship with Yukina. Proclaiming his love to the world came easy, but he was always pretty shy about the actual physical displays of affection. Yukina, on the other hand, didn't mind stealing a kiss every now and again behind closed doors—she was always the one to initiate, Kuwabara never wanted to push anything on her—but she wasn't one to freely admit her feelings. Actual PDA wasn't a thing yet, and still most of their friends probably figured that the relationship was one sided.

Kagome, though, acted as if she already knew. Weird as it was, she probably did, too.

"You'll make sure we get him, right? Kagami needs to know that he can't just mess with the Spirit Detectives like that and get away with it." He said to the Fox. He was far more levelheaded with Yukina at his side. "He's crossed the line, Kagome. I get that you were close once, but if you let him go, I'll just go after him on my own."

The Kitsune woman's mouth set in a firm grimace. If anything, she knew he was telling the truth. If the Shadow Beast slipped through their fingers, Kuwabara would chase him down to the ends of the earth and tear him to shreds like a bluetick coonhound.

Ears pinned back, the priestess nodded.

"He's going to be brought to justice, Kazuma." She assured him. Her hand rose to touch her chest just below where the jewel sat at her collarbone. "I'll see to that _personally."_

══ Inuyasha **X** Yu Yu Hakusho ══

After the portal blinked shut behind Kuwabara and Yukina, leaving her alone on that barely green island surrounded by bleak, still-somewhat-on-fire devastation, Kagome shuddered. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders to where the fabric of a jacket had been burnt away by the heat that had transferred through her barrier. Her reflexes had been quick, but still, no barrier built in that short of span could be perfect.

The burns were painful, but they were insignificant; as she told Kuwabara, they would heal. More than the pain of her raw flesh, the priestess was struck by a strange new fear. For her entire life as a demoness, those past five hundred years, she knew almost exactly what was going to happen next—world events, societal and cultural changes, the personal stories of those strongly involved with the future of the Three Realms. Yet now, for the first time since she was a teenager, Kagome no longer knew what was going to happen next. She could only make educated guesses, and as that clash had just demonstrated, she wasn't always going to be right.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome ran through her locks to shake away the bits that had broken off. Then, when she was fully prepared for her next round of battle, she focused on the half-demon Spirit Detective's aura and opened up her portal.

There was no telling what action awaited her beyond the door.

Firmed and determined, the now experienced Demoness took a sure step onto the ground on the other side, only to slip on an unexpectedly sleek dancefloor of clear ice.

"Careful, shit's cold."

Kagome caught her balance and spun to the voice. The shimmering pink portal blinked from existence, revealing none other than Yusuke Urameshi sitting on the frozen ground behind it. He was tossing a familiar thin knife in the air.

She'd gotten lucky. The Jewel's portal didn't always guarantee and opening directly next to her target. Sometimes it opened up to half a kilometer away; it had a little to do with how emotionally connected she was to the being she was looking for, but mostly it was just random.

"They're stilettos." He said, not looking back to her when the Kitsune woman did not say anything right away. "Nobody expects stilettos, apparently."

The area there was deserted and frosted in layers upon layers of thick and jagged ice. Only Yusuke remained.

Was this another trick?

Had Kagami gotten to him as well?

"Yusuke," she spoke gently. "What is your father's name?"

The tossing of the knife stopped abruptly. "Raizen was _not_ my father." He growled.

"Not Raizen. Your _real_ father."

At that Yusuke gave her a one eyed glare from over his shoulder. "You're real fucking creepy when you do that you know, right?" Then scoffed and turned back to the trees coated in their fine shimmering fortress of glass. "Bastard's name was Kinsuke I think."

Kagome let out a breath. He was the genuine Detective all right. "It was Kosuke."

"See? Real fucking creepy."

"Yusuke... Kagami showed up, didn't he?" She asked. The signs of the battle were everywhere, yet the Mazoku was just calmly sitting there in the middle of it all, waiting for her to arrive.

"You mean the Yukina lookalike? Yeah, he's long gone."

"And Toru? That's one of his blades."

"Funny thing, right? Who brings _normal_ _knives_ to a Youki battle? I mean, except for maybe Chu. But that son of a bitch's got his own brand of crazy."

Kagome firmed her tone. " _Yusuke_. Tell me where he is. Did he—?"

"Fly through a magic portal after the Shadow of his childhood buddy?" Yusuke interrupted in a carefree manner that was laced poison thick with sarcasm. " _Sure_ _did_. Say, hey. Since we're talking. You tell me something now. Do you think you left out something _really_ important when you were giving us the lowdown on Kagami's tragic backstory?"

The priestess, who'd been scouting the Realm for her best friend's son, paused. "What?"

Yusuke bristled but still didn't turn to look at her. "Don't you _what_ me. _Raizen_. When were you going to tell me that Raizen killed Kagami's freaking _mom_?"

Stunned speechless, Kagome let her mouth drop open. That was not what she thought he was going to say. Her reply sounded just as taken off guard as she felt. "He... _what_?"

Yusuke sighed and started up his fiddling of the knife once again. This time when he spoke he seem to be genuinely disappointed in her. "Oh, don't give me that. There's _no_ _way_ you didn't know."

But she didn't.

She honestly, truly-how could she _not_ have known that!?

"Yusuke please, you have to believe me. I _didn't_ _know."_ Stepping carefully about the slippery ice, the Kitsune swung around to face the young man. "Kagami _never_ spoke about his family. I just assumed they disappeared with the rest of his clan when Naraku was killed. It must've been beyond my time, Yusuke. I wasn't there for _anything_ that happened before Naraku."

As she was arguing her case, Yusuke looked up to study her with a tired frown. If he thought she was lying this time, the Priestess didn't know how she would ever be able to win back his much-needed trust. Luckily, he must have seen it in her eyes, because as soon as she finished talking, Yusuke raked long fingers through his disheveled hair and said, "Well, apparently they had a scuffle before the mass extinction. Which, what the hell was _that_ about?"

Kagome could breathe again when he held out his hand and she helped him to his feet. For some reason, his shoes had a better grip than hers did. She kept a hold on his arm to keep from sliding away across the ice rink, her tail tight around her thigh.

"I still don't know for sure, since Kagami is now the only survivor. But we think they all gathered to seek power from Naraku to defeat... the Mazoku. Oh."

" _Oh_?"

"I... didn't think it was going to come up. I didn't realize Kagami would hold that over you. He would have just been a little kid at the time and you weren't _born_ a Mazoku. I would have warned you if I knew."

Yusuke fought with himself to keep from biting back. His calmer, more mature side eventually won out to coat his next words in tongue-in-cheek humor instead of anger. " _Well_? You know _now._ _What_ were they fighting over? Who could be the most pretentious? Wait. Does it have anything to do with why he couldn't transform into me? Because he tried that and it didn't work. _Please_ don't tell me he's like my long-lost brother or something."

"He _tried_?" the Priestess' glowing eyes grew wide and panicked.

The Atavism shrugged. "Yeah, I let him take a wack at it."

"You... For shit's _sake_ Yusuke. You _let_ _him_!?" She stopped as her inward thoughts raced. "But if he _couldn't._.. I need to confirm something. Where's Kurama?" She looked around, but again Yusuke was the only one up there with her on that floating platform. No other Fox in sight. When she turned back to Yusuke, he looked askance to the edge of the island with shame. Her ears pinned back tight against her head. "Yusuke. _Where_ _is_ _Kurama_?"

Suddenly, as if she'd summoned it from the beyond, Kurama's energy flared. Wild, untameable, dangerous, from the land so far below them. Just a flash and then it was gone. A sharp ripple raking across the land.

To Kagome, the feeling was terrifyingly familiar.

Yusuke jumped at the sensation unaware of the foreboding it brought, and sprinted to the edge of the hovering ball of ice. " _Fuck!_ Thank god, _he's_ _okay_! I mean, I totally knew he was but, _yes_!" His joy belied how absolutely worried sick he had been, stuck up there in the sky with no way to get home.

And he had absolutely no clue just how wrong he was.

Kagome fell still, and then she spoke.

"Yusuke. I need to get you home. Right now."

═══════ Tsarashi ══════════

 **Chapter Thirteen: End**

 **Tsarashi – Hello and thank you for reading this new chapter of With Reason. This concludes the 'Saving Yukina' mini arc, which means that we can finally move on to the deeper meat of things. Originally these three chapters of 'Winter's Search' were meant to be written out in a single chapter. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I hope you've enjoyed reading this so far and know that, while it may be slow, there is still more to come.**

 **In regards to the warning at the beginning of the chapter; I believe it is fair to understand why I put off posting this chapter by a few days, even though I had finished writing it on the 17h. It was a terrible coincidence that this scene happened to coincide with such a tragic event and I most certainly was not going to post this in the wee hours following the aftermath of the KyoAni fire. I had debated back and forth about deleting the explosion and starting over—destroying Kagami's temporary hideout and all trace of his having been there in a different way—but in the end I ultimately chose to keep it and trudge onward. Why? Because in the past I have had people comment positively on how my stories do not gloss over pains and hardships, and I want to continue to embody that, even within my everyday life. It would be counter-intuitive for me personally to delete these words I'd written.**

 **To quote Johnathon Larson: The opposite of war isn't peace—it's _creation._**

 ** _Even if that creation is from Kuwabara's way-less-than-sensitive point of view._ **

**So, In lieu of sweeping away the shame of my heinous happenstance under a rug, I am going to embrace it with hesitant arms and ask that you please take the time after reading this to share with me a moment of silence and appreciation for the 34 creative individuals who lost their lives last week.**

 **As you all undoubtedly have already heard, there was an attack on the Kyoto Animation Studio last Thursday, 07/18/19, in Japan which resulted in the largest malicious loss of life in post-war Japanese modern history. The world has been brutally robed of so many amazing artists and creators by this act of hate—it truly was an attack on culture. KyoAni was one of the few studios that vowed to treat their employees, both men and women, justly and produced works of a genuine wholesome nature. My heart goes out to all of the employees, the victims, and their families.**

 **In the US, Sentai Filmworks, another fantastically wholesome and supportive studio, has started up a GoFundMe to help aid KyoAni through this terrible time. Do please consider showing your support by donating, if not as a fan of the studio, but as a member of the anime community, or even as a member the international community at broad. Money will not bring back the lives of those that were lost, but any little bit will help to rebuild those that have been shattered by this tragedy.**

 **Please stay safe out there.**

 **Until next time.**

 **#HelpKyoAniHeal**


End file.
